


Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

by EmilieMonaghan



Series: Sheep in Wolf's Clothing [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Acceptance, Domestic Avengers, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Feels, Forgiveness, I just wrote four pages that is almost entirely, Loki doesn't forgive easily, M/M, Odin's A+ Parenting, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Romance, Self-Esteem Issues, So he can let anyone he wants live there, Stark Tower is Tony's house, Steve is not comfortable with modern America, Thor is a good uncle, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony can't stop quoting movies, Trust Issues, a little angst is good for a story, author knows nothing about medicine, avengers talking about what to do for breakfastl, but Thor is trying to make up for that, half the characters here need hugs, no seriously, odin's A+ grandparenting, than originally planned, this story has gone in such a different direction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-01-21 05:32:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 128,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1539488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilieMonaghan/pseuds/EmilieMonaghan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Thor goes to Asgard to visit his family he returns to Earth with more than just some souvenirs. Now the Avengers are faced with either accepting their new house guest or losing Thor from the team. Thor insists that he is harmless but can any of them trust someone with such a dark past?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is cannon up through Iron Man 3- although I have stretched out the time it took to get them all to this point so Thor has been working with the Avengers for about three years. I am going to go my own way after Iron Man 3 but you may notice some of the other movies showing up over time.
> 
> You may have noticed Rape/Non-Con and Underage in the warnings category. These things will have happened in the past and, while mentioned, will not be shown. However if this is a problem for you I would advise you to stop reading before chapter three. If I end up putting in a flashback or more graphic references to the past I will give warning.

“You Maniacs! You blew it up!” Iron Man screamed, falling to his knees on the roof of Avengers Tower.

            “I swear, Stark, you make one more Planet of the Apes reference and I’m putting you in a cell with him,” Natasha said, indicating the prisoner that S.H.I.E.L.D was carting off on the street below.

            “Sorry, darling, but when you ask me to do battle against a genetically altered super gorilla, you take what you get.” Tony said, flipping up the front of his helmet. “And is it just me or has the quality of villain been going way down lately?”

            “You didn’t enjoy fighting Steel Boy and Puck, last week?” Hawkeye asked as he did a quick inventory on his arrows.

            “Now why did you have to bring up Steel Boy?” Tony groaned. “That little idiot rips off my idea, and doesn’t even have the respect to do it well. Just because you can weld a few pieces of metal together doesn’t mean you have armor. And who in their right minds powers a super suit with oil! The guy’s lucky he only ran out of gas instead of blowing up.”

Hawkeye laughed to himself as Tony’s armor began disassembling itself. It had been days since their brief fight with Steel Boy. It had barely even been a fight, with Steel Boy causing more damage when he lost control of his suit than during the crime he’d been trying to commit. He was completely forgettable. Except for the fact that he’d tried to copy Tony. A fact which had been driving him crazy, and supplying Hawkeye with hours of enjoyment ever since.

“I don’t know if you can call Puck a villain,” Bruce said before Tony’s rant could escalate to copyright laws. “He’s a nuisance, sure, but he hasn’t really done anything especially villainous yet. Although I’ll admit that seeing Central Park swarming with ten thousand rabbits was a little creepy.”

            “I’m still wondering why anyone thought we needed to be involved in that one,” Hawkeye said, handing Bruce a shirt.

“That, that right there. That is my point,” Tony said. “What’s Dr. Doom been doing all this time? Or any of the villains with a little self-respect?”

“Given that the last two years have included five attempts at world domination, I’ll take any break the big guys are willing to give,” Bruce said, pulling the shirt over his newly shrunken frame.

            “I’m with Bruce. I could go for a vacation,” Hawkeye said, pulling off his mask as they all began heading inside the Tower. “And bananas. For some reason I am really craving bananas right now.” Clint immediately felt a sharp pain in his arm as Natasha smacked him.

            “You’re both idiots,” She said, heading for her room.

            “Come on, Nat, it was a talking gorilla,” Hawkeye called after her. “Anyone want to watch a movie tonight?” He asked, when he saw she wasn’t coming back.

            “Only if Tony agrees not to break out his, Planet of the Apes, box set,” Bruce said.

            “Fair enough,” Tony said. “Tarzan, it is.”

 

                        &&&&&&&&

           

“Hey, Goldilocks, enjoying a light snack before bed?” Tony asked as he entered the kitchen later that night. Thor looked at his sandwich, which was roughly the size of a Thanksgiving turkey, with pride and took another bite instead of answering.

            “So how’d you enjoy the mission today?” Tony continued, sitting across the table from Thor and grabbing a chip from his plate. “I bet you don’t get many super apes on Asgard.”

            “I am glad that you bring up Asgard,” Thor said, putting the sandwich down. “There is something I have wanted to talk to you and Rogers about.”

           “Okay,” Tony said slowly. This wouldn’t be good. No one ever said they wanted to talk and then gave you good news. Tony waited to hear what bomb Thor was going to drop and tried to comfort himself that at least this wasn’t a pregnancy scare; like his last ‘talk’.

            “Today, during our encounter with Mandrill I was not needed. The same has been true for our last several encounters,” Thor explained.

            “Don’t worry, Big Guy, we’re in a lull right now but you can always count on villains to come back sooner or later,” Tony assured. “Cockroach cliché’s exist for a reason.”

            “I know that they will. I have no worries on that front,” Thor said. “But since the team is not in any great need of my skills at the moment, I was thinking that there is no reason that I couldn’t be spared for a week or two.”

            “Hoping to spend a little quality time with Jane?” Tony asked with a smile. For a second he’d thought that Thor was about to quit the team.

            “Time with Jane would be wonderful, but I was thinking of a trip home. It has been over six months since I’ve returned to Asgard,” Thor said.

            “Really, six months? I guess this explains why you’ve been watching all those Viking documentaries,” Tony said.

            “Do you think I could be spared?” Thor asked, ignoring Tony’s joke.

            “Thor, today we fought a monkey. I think I can speak for the entire team when I tell you to take a few weeks to visit your parents,” Tony assured him.

           

                        &&&&&&&&

           

Thor knew that the timing for a visit to Asgard was not ideal; his father had just entered into the Odinsleep and his mother would be busy ruling in his stead. But in the three years since Thor had joined the Avengers, there had rarely been such a large stretch of time between threats. Thoughts of finding the time to return home had been on his mind long before Barton had spoken of taking a vacation.

            Not surprisingly his mother, though thrilled to see him, did not have much time to spare. As usually happened when his father was in the Odinsleep, his mother was all but overrun with subjects wishing for an audience. People who would never bring a complaint to the Allfather would more calmly approach the Queen, and some who’d had their requests rejected hoped to elicit a different answer from a gentler ruler. It wasn’t often that the Queen’s decisions on the throne differed from the Allfather’s but the few times they did gave the people hope and kept his mother’s waking hours filled.

            While Thor didn’t get to spend much time with Frigga the warriors three and Sif were more than happy to fill the gap in his time. Almost from the moment he stepped through the Bifrost his friends had been working to make up for lost time. They were all eager to train together and reminisce over past adventures. The Warriors Three had always been restless and it was no surprise when, only four days into his visit, Fandral decided that they should go on a quest.

            The evening had begun with them in the grand hall, drinking and recounting stories of their finest battles. However somewhere on their third case of mead Fandral decided that he’d had enough of talking about the past.

            “It’s been too long since we’ve all been on an adventure together. People are going to start forgetting us,” Fandral said. “I’ve even heard that there are rumors that we died.”

            “No one believes you dead Fandral,” Sif interrupted. “They merely wish it.”

            Fandral waved off Sif’s remark and continued speaking. “We need to remind the realms of who we all are. Remind them that we are the fiercest warriors to ever draw their weapons,” Fandral waved his hand over the table to emphasize his point before remembering that he was still holding his drink.

            “There is some truth to what he says,” Volstagg agreed. “Your works on Midgard have been fine enough. But few other races truly care about what goes on in the realm. You should show that you can still stand against a real challenge.”

            “And where would you have me go?” Thor asked, refilling his glass. “What quest do you have that is worthy of the great Thor?”

            Sif coughed into her drink and fought the desire to openly laugh at Thor’s ever growing bravado. “Yes, Fandral, what is it you have in mind?” Sif asked.

            “I have the perfect thing. We must go to Svartalfheim,” Fandral said excitedly, completely oblivious to how silent the room had gone. “Packs of Varingar have been terrorizing the high city and its surrounding towns for a year. Rumor has it that they’re ready to give their entire treasury to anyone who can clear them out.”

            “Fandral,” Sif hissed.

            “What?” Fandral said. “This is exactly the kind of adventure that we all need. If we could-”

            “You know that I do not go to Svartalfheim,” Thor interrupted.

“Still?” Fandral asked in surprise. “I would have thought that after-” Fandral was interrupted again, this time with a swat from Volstagg that nearly sent him to the floor. “That after so much… **_time_ you** would have changed your mind.”

“It has been a long time,” Volstagg added. “And it’s not as though you can change what happened.”

“It has been a long time. Even still I would not go out of my way to offer them aid. Find another quest for us.” Thor said, getting up from his seat. “Leave this one to others.”

As Thor left the room, Sif quickly got up to follow him.

            “Do you still plan to rule someday?” She asked, catching him in the hall.

            “Of course,” Thor said.

            “Then I think that you need to come with us to Svartalfheim,” Sif said. Thor began to protest but was stopped when Sif continued speaking. “What happened that day…It was terrible but it’s done. Svartalfheim is in need of aid and they are our allies, even if the relationship has become strained. Show the realms that you can see beyond your own feeling to do what is right. Show them the kind of King you’re going to be.” Sif stood in the hallway and waited to see what Thor would say.

            “No,” Thor said, finally. “I won’t go to Svartalfheim.” Thor repeated, walking off. Sif stood, watching Thor disappear, until Fandral came to join her.

            “Almost makes you miss the days when he would run into battle without question,” Fandral said, into his glass.

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

           

            “So should I go?” Thor asked his mother later that night.

            “The people of Svartalfheim _are_ our allies. I think… that your father would approve of the quest,” Frigga said.                            

“And you? What do you think?” He asked. Frigga looked her son in the eyes but said nothing. “Auolies should never have been allowed to get away with what he did. We should have declared war on the realm!” Thor continued.

            “Asgard has had a truce with Svartalfheim since before your grandfather was alive. Breaking it would have had dire consequences,” Frigga said, sitting down. “Your father made the decision that he thought was right.”

            “Father trusted him, we all trusted him, and he deceived us. How can I help a man like that?!” Thor shouted, collapsing into a chair next to his mother.

            “What King Auolies did was despicable. But it is a King’s right to punish those who commit crimes in their kingdoms. He gave the…sentence that he felt the crime deserved,” Frigga said, putting her hand on her son’s. “You are a great warrior, Thor. And leaving Auolies people to suffer will not change the past.” Frigga paused before she continued. “It also won’t bring your brother back to us.” She said gently.

            “Loki was never the same after that. Perhaps if things had gone differently than Loki would still be here,” Thor said.

            “You could go mad trying to find the moment that your brother was lost to us. But that too is in the past and can’t be altered,” Frigga finished quietly.

            “I feel that it is my duty to go but I…” Thor trailed off.

            “Helping the people of Svartalfheim is the right thing to do. Go and make your peace with what happened there,” She said. Thor kissed his mother’s hand and moved to leave.

            “Thor,” Frigga said, stopping him. “I know that King Auolies is offering great rewards to his kingdoms saviors, but you shouldn’t let your friends count on that too strongly. He won’t want to part with that much gold. And he always finds ways to get what he wants.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next Chapter you will see Svartalfheim. I began writing this story about a month before Thor 2 came out so my image of the world is very different. Just think of this world as Asgard jr. Also, as you may have guessed, this story is cannon compliant up to Iron Man 3. Thor 2 never happened.


	2. Chapter 2

The battle against the Varingar was glorious, if not one of their more lengthy adventures. A mere three days was all that it took to destroy the packs. 

“How many others did you say they’d brought in to slay these beasts?” Fandral asked with a laugh. 

“At least a dozen teams have tried and failed.” Volstagg replied.

“And we took them in days.” Sif finished with pride.

“You need to come home more.” Fandral said to Thor. “What could you be doing on Midgard that would half compare to this?” 

“Perhaps you should join me there and find out.” Thor replied.

“Yet another realm to be tormented by Fandral’s lust? And here I thought you liked it there.” Sif said with a smile. The conversation was brought short as the group reentered the city and found the King waiting for them at the gates. 

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Countless men have taken on the Varingar, and failed, and you four wipe them out in days. Truly you are the finest warriors I’ve ever seen. The stories of your bravery clearly have not been embellished. You have my most humble thanks and that of my entire kingdom.” The King said, with a bow.

“Your thanks is appreciated, but we’re tired and eager to return home. If you would give us the gold you promised then we would gladly be on our way.” Thor said. The king looked at Thor annoyed.

“Of course, of course, but there will be plenty of time to take care of such insignificant things in the morning. Tonight I insist that you all join me at the palace where a feast will be held in your honor.” The king said. “I could not let you leave before my subjects have the chance to show their gratitude.” Before Thor could say anything Sif was speaking.

“We gladly accept your gracious offer. Do you think that in the meantime you could provide us with some chambers where we could rest and refresh before the nights festivities?” She asked sweetly.

“Of course, my dear. I’m only ashamed that I didn’t offer already. I’ll have my servants make arrangements for you at once. If you’ll excuse me.” He said, excusing himself with another bow. After he was out of ear shot Sif turned on Thor.

“I know you can’t stand him but do try not to actively insult the man. I doubt your father would appreciate you causing a rift with Svartalfheim while he slept.” She said.

 

&&&&&&&&

 

Even Thor had to admit that the rooms Auolies had provided them with were more than comfortable. Not only were they richly furnished but there were half a dozen servants to wait on him as he changed out of his armor. 

“Is there anything else that we can obtain for you, my lord?” A servant, introduced as Llundy, asked. “Another drink, perhaps?”

“No. I believe I’ll just retire with my companions until the feast tonight.” Thor said. Llundy nodded and signaled to the other servants to follow him out. Thor stretched out on a bench and noticed that a young boy had stayed behind. “Yes?” Thor asked.

“Sir.” The young boy said, his voice cracking. “I was just wondering if you would want to visit the dungeons while you were here?”

“Why would I want to see the dungeons?” Thor asked. 

The boy muttered nervously. “I just thought that…”

“Garran!” Llundy yelled coming back into the room. “Stop bothering the prince and return to your work.” The boy ran out of the room and the man came forward to apologize. “I am sorry if the boy offended you.”

“I’m not offended, merely confused. Why would the boy think that I’d want to see the dungeons?” Thor asked again. 

“Oh.” He said sounding flustered. “Well our dungeons hold many different types of criminals. Some of our less distinguished guests have gone there for… amusements.” He finished. Thor could see how uncomfortable the man was with the subject and dismissed him without any further question. Later on he told his friends of the strange encounter. Volstagg was sure that the boy had just been trying to show off and Fandral nodded his agreement. Sif told him to ignore it. Even still Thor couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was something wrong.

 

&&&&&&&&

 

To the kings credit the feast was incredible. The entire city seemed to be in attendance, along with the greatest musicians and enough food that even Volstagg seemed satisfied. The joy and celebration was almost enough to make Thor forget the strangeness in his chambers. Until he saw the boy again. He was carrying a tray of drinks and bore the unmistakable traces of a recent beating. His left eye was practically swollen shut. Thor began to approach him when the servant from his rooms appeared at his side. 

“How are you enjoying the festivities, my lord?” Llundy asked.

“What happened to the boy?” Thor asked, ignoring the question. 

“A silly squabble between servants. You know how boys of that age are. Always needing to prove themselves stronger than the others.” He finished with a smile.

“He didn’t seem the type.” Thor scanned the crowd for the boy but he seemed to have vanished.

“My lord, if you would follow me, the king has brought forth a cask of his finest mead which he wishes to share with you and your companions.” Llundy insisted, pulling Thor across the room.

The party continued late into the night and may have gone on much longer, but when Fandral lost his ability to stand straight Sif announced that it was time for them all to retire. Thor grabbed an arm to support his drunken friend and made his way toward their chambers. Volstagg was cheerfully accompanied by a red-head girl that he’d been dancing with toward the end of the evening. Upon entering their room they all began to split apart and Volstaggs' companion tried to follow Thor. 

“My chambers are this way.” Volstagg said.

“I’ve been waiting all night to find a moment alone with you.” She said to Thor, completely ignoring the larger man. Volstaggs’ jaw dropped at the obvious slight.

“Your attentions are flattering but I am committed to another. But I believe Volstagg would be more than happy to-” Thor tried to say.

“I heard you earlier.” She interrupted. “You didn’t believe them when they told you how Garran got hurt. Would you like to know what really happened to him?”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Alyia.” Thor didn’t know what to make of the girl, so he decided to remain quiet and allow her to talk. “Llundy had three men beat him after he talked to you.”

“All that for a perceived slight on Thor?” Fandral asked from the couch where Thor had laid him. 

“There was no slight. Garran was about to reveal one of their secrets.”

“So you decided to finish the job for him?” Sif asked, joining the conversation.

“He won’t dare try again.” She said, rising to Sif’s challenge. 

“Then you must have a great respect for Thor. To risk so much on his behalf.” Sif stated doubtfully.

“I’m not doing this for him. The men who hurt Garran should be punished. The best way that I can see to do that is to reveal what they were so desperate to hide.”

“Well what is it? Enough of this nonsense and just tell us.” Volstagg said, still annoyed at having been used. 

“There is a man they’re keeping in the dungeons. Garran told me he is from Asgard.” 

“A bit of a disappointing secret.” Fandral said from the couch. “Asgardians can commit crimes as well as anyone else. What did this one do?”

“I don’t know. No one ever talks about him. Garran only knows he’s there because his father cleans the empty cells. He often goes to visit him there.” She said.

“I have no say in the law of this land.” Thor said bitterly. “I don’t know what your friend expected me to do.”

“He expected you to save him. You’re a prince, a hero; you’re supposed to help people!”

“If he’s been locked up then he probably deserves whatever is being done to-” Fandral began before the girl cut him off.

“This man is different. Garran told me that there’s never been this much secrecy surrounding one of their prisoners before. The only people who even seem to know he’s there are the high council and the people who come to torture him.” She said disgustedly.

“Most people who merit that kind of treatment have done more than enough to deserve it.” Volstagg said. 

“No one deserves what they’ve done to him. He’s losing his mind in there. Garran talked to him one day and the man tried to convince him that he’d once been a prince.”

“He said what?” Thor asked, suddenly much more focused on what she had to say.

“He’s going insane.”

“No, what he said to Garran.”

“He told him that he used to be a prince.”

“What is his name?” 

“I don’t know. Garran never told me.” She said.

“Well what did he look like? Did he have black hair?” Thor demanded.

“Thor.” Sif said trying to get her friends attention.

“I don’t know what he looks like.” Alyia insisted. “I’ve never been down there.”

“That’s enough. You need to leave.” Sif said, grabbing the girl by the arm and pulling her from the room.

“Wait. I want for you to bring your friend here. I want to know everything he does about this prisoner.” Thor commanded.

“I don’t know if he’ll come.” She said.

“Make him come. He wanted to talk to me and now he can. Bring him here at sunup tomorrow.” The girl agreed and Sif quickly led her out of the room. 

“I know what you’re thinking.” Sif said, coming back to Thor. “But it’s not him.”

“You don’t know that.” Thor said.

“It’s impossible.”

“Who else could it be but Loki?” Thor asked.

“Anyone. The girl said that the man was insane.”

“No one has seen Loki in almost a year. This would explain why.” 

“Or perhaps he simply decided to stop attacking Midgard.” Fandral said. “He could have decided that it was time to give up on trying to rule the realm and decided to live out the rest of his life on Vanaheim.” 

“Why would Loki have even come here? You weren’t the only one to swear never to set foot on Svartalfheim again.” Sif reminded him.

“Perhaps in his madness he thought to bring his fight to Auolies.” Thor said.

“After all this time, why now?” Fandral asked.

“Loki’s rage has led him to do many things that he never would have considered in the past. Perhaps it has led him to seek revenge.”

“Revenge for what?” Volstagg asked. Thor turned to his friend in shock and Sif glared at him. “I’m sorry about what happened, I know that it hurt you and your family greatly, but a crime was committed and a punishment doled out. I’ll admit that the punishment was overly severe, but it is a kings right to punish criminals as he sees fit. If Loki did come to Svartalfheim, to attack the king, then he deserves to be imprisoned.”

“How can you say that?” Thor asked. “How could you believe Auolies did the right thing when you saw what his decision did to my family? It took years for Loki to recover from what that man did.”

“We’re arguing about nothing.” Fandral said, trying to calm his friends. “There’s no way that this man is Loki. Now can we forget this nonsense and go back to celebrating our victory?” He asked.

“I’m sorry my friends, but I cannot ignore this if there is even a chance that my brother is suffering.” Thor said. 

“Well, I won’t stop you.” Fandral said, getting up from the couch. “However I don’t feel like spending my night watching you prepare for a reunion that isn’t coming. So if it’s all the same to you I’m going to go and find some of those lovely women from the feast.” Fandral moved to the door and Volstagg followed close behind.

“I’ll join you.” Volstagg said. Once the two had left the room Thor went over and sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. Sif sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s still my brother.” Thor said, turning to look at Sif. “Whatever else he has done, he is still my brother. If he’s in trouble then I have to know.” 

“He’d never do this for you, you know.” Sif said.

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Then I suppose I have no choice but to help you find out who’s in the dungeon.”

 

&&&&&&&&

 

Alyia came early the next morning, as promised, pulling a reluctant Garran behind her. Fandral and Volstagg still hadn’t returned from wherever they’d gone, so it was just Sif and Thor waiting to greet them. 

“Well?” Sif asked. Alyia pushed Garran forward.

“I…I.” Garran mumbled.

“Tell me about the man in the dungeons.” Thor asked, trying to take Sif’s advice and not scare the boy away.

“I’ve only spoken to him a few times.” Garran said, hesitating over every word. “My father works in the dungeons and sometimes I go to see him there. One of his duties is to bring the prisoners their meals.”

“Fascinating.” Sif said to herself.

“Go on.” Thor encouraged. 

“A few times he’s had me help him and that’s when I met the prisoner. I don’t think my father was supposed to tell me that he was there.” Garran said, nervously. “My father told me that the king has him kept in secret and then he told me about all the things that people come to do to him.” He said, grimacing at an unpleasant memory.

“And you’ve met him?” Thor asked.

“The few times I brought him his meals, he would talk to me through the door. He always wanted to talk to me. My father did open the door to his cell one time so I could take a look, but I only saw him for a moment.”

“I don’t suppose you know the prisoners name, do you?” Sif asked. “That would speed things along nicely.”

“I never asked.” Garran admitted. 

“What did he look like?” Thor asked.

“He was tall and pale.” Garran offered. “And I remember that he had green eyes.”

“Was his hair black?” Thor asked, hopefully. Garran smiled at finally having a question he could answer.

“Black as night.” Garran said. Thor jumped on his answer.

“I need to meet him. Show me the way to the dungeons at once.” Thor commanded. 

“I’m already in trouble for talking to you. If anyone even finds out I came here then I don’t know what they’ll do.” Garran said.

“You’ve already gone this far.” Thor said.

“We’ll make sure that no one finds out that we learned this from you.” Sif assured him.

“You’re sure?” Alyia asked, putting a reassuring hand on her friends shoulder. 

“We swear, now take us to the dungeon.” Thor said. 

They ran after Garran as he led them through the palace and down to the dungeon. 

“It’s through there.” Garran said, pointing toward a door guarded by two men. “If you can get past them, then go through the main hall and take the second left. The tunnel will seem empty, but there’s one cell at the far end and that’s where he’ll be.”

“Two guards?” Thor asked, moving a hand to his hammer. “I think I can handle that.” He said with a smile. Sif grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Perhaps a more subtle approach.” She said.

“If you don’t need me anymore…” Garran said. 

“Yes, yes, go.” Thor said, barely registering the boy now that they were at the dungeon. Garran didn’t give Thor a chance to change his mind and ran. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Sif asked when Garran was gone.

“You heard what he said.” Thor insisted.

“A tall man with black hair and green eyes, Thor, that could describe a hundred men.”

“It also describes Loki.” Thor said. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“I’ll lure the guards away.” Sif said, with a sigh. “Try to keep the reunion short.” She said, walking off.

Thor couldn’t hear what Sif said to the guards, but it seemed to do the trick, and they were soon following her away from the door. He waited to be sure they were gone and hurried into the dungeon. He followed Garran’s directions down the long hallways and soon found himself standing in front of the cell. For a moment he wished he’d asked Garran to get him the keys, but then saw the door wasn’t locked. Instead runes were carved around the door. This was the strongest proof yet! No normal cell could hold his brother; they’d need one sealed with magic. Thor threw the door open and saw a man sitting in the center of the cell with his back to the door. Thor took a step into the cell and the man rose and turned around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So does anyone have a guess for who is in the cell? Post them along with a review in the comments section. The first person to guess correctly will win a lock of Fandral's hair.


	3. Chapter 3

It was Loki. Thor was left speechless as the man across the room stood up. He was about to run and embrace his brother when he took a second look. This wasn’t Loki. The resemblance was strong, he had the same eyes and hair as Loki but a resemblance was all it was. He felt all hope drain from his body. His friends had been right; he’d only been chasing shadows.

“My lord?” Thor was startled out of his dismay at the voice of the man. For a moment he’d forgotten that he was in the room with him. 

“A mistake was made. I believed that you were someone else.” Thor said. He watched as the man visibly flinched at his words.

“I’m sorry if you’ve been disappointed.” He whispered. Now that Thor knew that he wasn’t looking at his brother he took a moment to really look at the man. Although man didn’t really seem to fit, he looked like he was hardly out of adolescence. What could one this young have done to deserve imprisonment?

“Do you know who I am?” The man’s response to Thor’s question was immediate. His eyes widened in fear as he quickly began speaking.

“Have you been here before?” He asked, seemingly unsure whether or not he should look at Thor or the floor in front of him. “I thought I knew you. I apologize if I’ve forgotten your preferences but, if you’ll just tell me what you want then I’ll do my best to satisfy you.”

Thor frowned in disgust at the realization of what the man expected of him. It became very clear that Llundy hadn’t been lying about the dungeons ‘amusements’. He looked again at the man’s look of resignation to his miserable fate. It wasn’t Loki but he was of Asgard; it was Thor’s duty to at least make sure that the prisoner deserved to be here.

“I’m not here to harm you. I’m a visitor from Asgard and I came to see how you were being treated. There is a boy who told me that your punishment was undeserved.” Thor explained.

“Garran.” The man whispered. “He talks to me sometimes. He’s a nice boy… but I’m afraid that he’s wrong about me. My treatment is exactly what I deserve.”

“Your crimes must have been great.”

“They were unforgivable.”

“What is your name?” Thor asked.

“Fenrir.” Nothing could have shocked Thor more than that one name. It couldn’t be. First the resemblance and now the name; it had to be a coincidence.

“Your full title.” Thor requested.

“Fenrir Lokison, of the House of Odin.”

“That’s a lie.” Thor hissed.

“My Lord?” He asked.

“Loki’s son died in childhood.”

“I don’t. I...”

“You think to manipulate me with such transparent falsehoods? Does it amuse you to play such games with one who would have helped you?”

“I’m not lying. You asked me my name.” He said beginning to look truly scared.

“You expect me to believe that you are Loki’s son?” Thor demanded.

“I am.” He whispered. 

“Before he died preparations were being made to celebrate Fenrir’s name day. Loki promised to give his son a gift that would have been the envy of all Asgard. If you’re truly he, then you’ll have no trouble telling me what that gift would have been.” Thor said.

“It was a secret. He never told anyone.” He answered.

“That’s what I thought.” Thor said, turning to leave. He was tired of this creature.

“It was a horse!” He yelled, just as Thor was about to leave. “He was going to give me an eight legged horse that would be even faster than the one he gave my grandfather.” Thor couldn’t move. For a moment he was caught up in the memory from years ago, when his brother, mired in grief, had told him of all the wonderful things he’d had planned for his son’s name day. Most important to him had been a gift that he’d promised; the gift of an enchanted horse.

Thor couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It wasn’t possible that the person with him could be his nephew! Fenrir was long dead.

“Have you just been here all this time?” Thor asked.

“I don’t understand.”

“When you were taken from Asgard, you’re saying that they have just been keeping you here all this time? That you have been alive all these years?” Thor asked, still trying to wrap his head around the possibility.

“Yes.”

“This can’t be.”

“I was brought here as a deal with the All-Father, to pay for my crimes.” He explained.

“The deal was for you to be punished and returned to Asgard. A deal which Auolies broke when he had you executed!” Thor shouted.

“What?”

“You really don’t know me do you?” Thor said, almost wanting to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “I am Thor and, if what you say is true than I am your uncle.”

“Thor?” Fenrir asked in shock. Thor was about to ask more questions to prove whether or not he was really talking to his nephew when the boy interrupted him. “Is my father here?” He asked hopefully.

“No. I’m sorry, he’s not.” Fenrir’s eyes dropped back down at the answer.

“Is he well?” Fenrir stammered.

“He is very different from how you’d remember him.” Thor said, wondering how to answer the question. “However last I saw of him he seemed to be in… good health.” 

“I’m glad.” Fenrir said with a small smile. It was the smile that did it. The smile that Thor had seen a million times on his brothers face. This was all wrong and Thor was determined to go and find answers for what had been happening to his nephew. He strode back toward the door to the cell. “Wait!” Fenrir yelped. “Can’t you stay a little longer? Tell me more about my father and Asgard.”

“I must go and speak to the king. I must fix the wrongs that have been done here.” 

“Will you come and see me again before you leave, please.”

“Fenris, I go to the king to talk about you. When I leave this kingdom I will be taking you with me.” Thor stated. He couldn’t believe that Fenrir hadn’t known what he’d meant.

“I can’t leave.” Fenrir said incredulously. “I have to pay for what I did.”

“From what I see you’ve paid for your sins ten times over. I will be back before the day is out.” Thor promised as he left.

&&&&&

“I need to go see the king.” Thor told Sif as he left the prison. “And I need you to go and find Fandral and Volstagg. We’re leaving as soon as I’m done.”

“Thor, what happened? Was it Loki?” Sif asked. She’d never actually expected him to be there.

“No, it wasn’t Loki.” Thor said. “It was Fenrir.”

“Thor, Fenrir is dead.” Sif said.

“No, we were lied to. Auolies has been keeping him here in the dungeons. Now I must go and arrange for his release.”

“Thor, this is madness. Whoever that prisoner is he is not your nephew.”

“He is. I’m sure.” Sif rushed in front of Thor and stopped him.

“He’s insane, even that girl said he was. He’ll say anything to get out of the dungeon.” Sif said.

“Find our friends.” Thor ordered, stepping around her. “We leave as soon as he is released.”

 

&&&&&

 

Auolies hadn’t been expecting to see the prince so early in the day. Truth be told he’d been hoping that the feast the night before would have left the man exhausted and drunk. A man reeling from a nights festivity is always easier to deal with then one completely sober. Unfortunately there was the visiting royal approaching him. 

“Good morning. How are you enjoying your stay?” He asked with a smile.

“Not well. I’ve had a rather distressing morning.” Thor said.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope it will not taint the rest of your time here. We were of course hoping that you would stay with us for another week at the least. There are many in the surrounding cities who would wish to show their gratitude for your bravery.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’ve decided to leave today.”

“Well that is a shame. If there is anything that I or my servants can do for you before you leave than you have only to ask.” As Auolies finished talking Thor smiled.

“In that case I would ask that you release my nephew from your dungeons.” Thor asked, politely.

“What?!” The king demanded.

“I would have simply taken him myself, but there seem to be runes surrounding his cell. I assume that you’ll need a sorcerer to remove those before he can leave.”

“Prince Thor, you must be mistaken. Your nephew—”

“I think that you’ve already lied to my family enough. My nephew sits in your dungeon and you will let him out.”

“I’m not accustomed to receiving orders in my own court.”

“Then think of him as a gift. A show of goodwill to mend the damaged relations between our two realms.”

“The boy is my prisoner.” Auolies said, no longer faking cheer. “He was presented to me to do with as I chose, after the damage that he caused to my people.”

“A trust that you abused by telling us that you’d had him executed.”

“His punishment wasn’t complete. It was agreed that if the truth of his presence here were made known then eventually someone would try and free him.”

“Then my request should come as no surprise.” Thor said.

“Nor should my answer. The boy is my prisoner and that is how he’ll stay.”

“You will not release him?” Thor asked.

“No.” Auolies stated, bluntly.

“Then I suppose there is no reason for me to linger.”

“I suppose not.”

“Just give me my reward and I’ll gather my companions and go.” 

“Reward?”

“For our defeat of the Varingar.” Thor explained. “You can’t have forgotten so soon; you threw us a feast just last night.” Auolies sat in stunned silence. The eldest Odinson was supposed to be a fool. He’d hoped to distract him away from the reward completely with revelries and celebrations. “We were promised the entirety of your treasure rooms. I think that we’ll take a portion now and send servants to retrieve the rest later.”

“You can’t possibly expect us to give you all of our treasure?”

“It was what you promised. A promise sent to all the realms in a desperate plea for aid.”

“Prince Thor.” Auolies pulled a supplicating face. “Please understand that the Varingar have laid waste to much of our countryside. Entire cities were emptied for fear of approaching hoards. It will require great wealth to rebuild what has been lost. I would think that a future king would show some compassion for a fellow ruler wanting to care for his kingdom.”

“You seemed to have enough to spare for a celebration last night, and several more if your offers of the outer cities thanks were true.”

“A wise ruler would think the thanks reward enough.”

“I’ve rarely been accused of being wise. Quite the opposite in fact.” Thor said with a wry smile.

“It can’t be spared.”

“You would deny me my reward?”

“I’d be willing to suffer the dishonor for the good of my people.”

“Know that if I leave here without the gold I was promised then I will make sure to tell all I meet of how the King of Svartalfheim went back on his word.”

“You will be seen by all as a petty child, and I will be a king who would do anything for what is best for his people.” He said with a sneer. “I believe that I will keep my gold.”

“People will look down on me but, in time, they will forgive. However one day you will need help again and in the back of everyone’s mind will be the story of how you sent your saviors away empty handed. Let’s hope that the Varingar are a long time in reassembling.”

“You vile piece of—”

“Of course you could always just let me take my nephew home with me. I would consider that to be a more than adequate reward.” 

 

&&&&&&

Fenrir sat against the side of his cell and stared at the stone wall in front of him. There was a crack in the third stone from the bottom that reminded him of a snake. Sometimes he would stare at it and try to convince himself that it was real. It was a difficult game, it required absolute stillness and concentration, but when he got it right he could see the serpent slide right off of the wall. He stared at the wall and tried to clear his mind of nothing but scales but it was no use. The events of the morning were too fresh in his mind for him to concentrate.

Sudden sounds outside the door brought his focus back to reality. Someone was coming and he had to be ready. He jumped to his feet and moved to the center of the room. He remembered to stand up straight and dropped his eyes to the floor just as the door opened.

“Fenris.” A voice boomed from the doorway. His eyes jolted up to see that his uncle had returned. “I was successful.”

“You came back.” He said.

“I told you I would. Now come, gather your things and we’ll leave.” He said with a smile.

“I don’t have any things. What do you mean leave?”

“I told you before that I was taking you away from here. Thor said throwing a large arm around his shoulder. Fenrir tried to hide his flinch at his uncle’s touch. 

“I thought that was a joke.” Fenrir explained.

“It was no joke, Fenris. I’m taking you home.”

Home. Was it possible that he was really going home? It had been years since he’d even let himself think the word. Now after all this time it was finally happening! He was going back to Asgard and he would get to see his father again. After all this time, finally, he must have been forgiven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, no one wanted to compete for the lock of Fandral's hair? His vanity may never recover from that on.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of May the fourth I now present you with the fourth chapter. May the fourth be with you.

When they came through the Bifrost Fenrir was gripping Thor’s arm. The grip only tightened when he saw the gate keeper looking down at him.

“Heimdal” Thor said. “This is a glorious day for Asgard. My nephew has returned to us, alive and well.” Thor pulled his arm free of Fenrir’s grip and wrapped it around his nephew proudly.

“So I see.” Heimdal said with a glance. “Sif is telling your mother about your discovery as we speak.”

“She already came through?” Thor asked. “This is wonderful.” Thor looked down at his nephew. “Come. Frigga will be thrilled when she sees you.” With that Thor strode off, half leading, half dragging his nephew along beside him. They had barely entered the palace when Sif and Frigga came hurrying toward them. “Mother I—”

“Fenris.” Frigga interrupted quietly. She stopped in front of Fenrir. Putting one hand on either side of his face she slowly moved his head up to face her. “You’ve changed so much.” She said sadly. “You look so much like your father.”

Fenrir, whose eyes had sought the ground the moment he’d heard someone coming, finally found the courage to look up.

“Do I really?” He asked.

“You have his eyes.” She said, pushing a stray hair from his face. “It’s so good to see you again.” She moved to give him a hug and felt him tense up under her touch. 

“Does my father know I’m back yet?” Fenrir asked, as Frigga pulled away.

“I’m afraid that we don’t know where he is.” Frigga explained.

“Is he on a quest?” Fenrir asked, confused. 

“Fenris, I must speak with my mother. Would you go with Sif to the training grounds and wait for me?” Thor asked. Fenrir paled at the suggestion.

“Could I just go someplace to rest?” He asked.

“Of course, you must be tired.” Frigga said. “Sif, will you take Fenris to Thor’s chambers until we can have something else prepared for him?” Sif glanced at Fenrir briefly then bowed to her queen and moved to lead him from the room. Fenrir hesitated, and turned to look at Thor.

“I’ll come to get you as soon as I’m done.” Thor said. Fenrir seemed reassured and followed Sif. Once the two were out of the room Thor went to his mother. 

“I know what you wish to ask me, though you fear to say it aloud.” Frigga said. 

“Am I wrong? Is this man an imposter?” Thor asked.

“He is who he claims to be. I felt him as soon as you brought him through the gate.” She said, smiling sadly to herself.

“I wanted to believe him. I did believe him but, I admit, I still had doubts.”

“It’s a painful thing to accept when you have failed someone so greatly.” Thor looked at his mother confused. “Your father and I should have seen through Auolies treachery. The man was always deceitful. We believed his lies and Fenrir was forced to suffer as a consequence.”

“You didn’t put him in that cell.” Thor said.

“We didn’t take him out of it either. You’ve done a wonderful thing bringing him home to us.” Frigga began to walk across the room and Thor followed. “I know that you were planning to rejoin your friends on Midgard but, given the circumstances, I hope you’ll stay on a little longer.” Thor nodded his assent. “I’m glad. He already seems to trust you.”

“Why wouldn’t he trust me? I’m family.” Thor asked with a laugh.

“He’s been gone a long time, Thor, and I can only imagine what was done to him in those dungeons. Even you have to have seen the fear on his face whenever someone comes too close.”

“Yes, but that will go away soon enough. Now that he’s back with his family, and safe, he’ll be fine.”

“I wish it would be as easy as that.”

“Why shouldn’t it be?” Thor asked. Frigga looked at Thor with frustration. She loved her son but sometimes his naivety bordered on the infuriating.

“Leaving out the part where he’s most likely been tortured throughout his entire childhood? Have you thought yet about how you’ll tell him about Loki?” Frigga asked, pointedly. “Fenris always worshiped his father. It won’t be easy for him to hear about the things that Loki has done.”

“Perhaps we need not tell him at all. We could say that Loki is on a quest and then-”

“How long do you think you could keep a story like that going? He’s his father’s son, so I can’t believe he would be fooled for long” Frigga said. “Thor, I know you mean well, but lying to him will only cause more pain. It won’t be easy, but it’s best that he knows the truth.”

“Even this will be but a brief pain for him.” Thor said, regaining his optimism. “Once word gets to Loki that Fenris is alive then he will want to come home to be with him. His joy will wipe away his rage and everything will be just like it was.”

Frigga seemed prepared to challenge her son, but stopped herself. “The most reliable thing about Loki is his unpredictability. There’s no way to know how he will react to this news. But we do need to find a way to tell him.”

“No one has seen him in almost a year. When I return to Midgard I will increase the search. If I can find him I’ll make sure he talks to me whether he wants to or not.”

“I suppose that’s the best we can do for now. In the meantime I think the more time that you spend with Fenris the better.” Thor nodded to his mother and left the room. Frigga wanted to call out after him. To tell him how much fear she’d felt when she’d hugged her grandson. To warn him of her own fears that the man they were getting back from Svartalfheim might not be the same as the boy that they lost all those years ago. She wanted to but she didn’t; Thor had always loved his nephew and would naturally do his best to make him feel welcome. For now she had to hope that that would be enough.

&&&&&

Thor entered into his rooms and saw Fenrir sitting, stiffly, at the edge of a chair. 

“I thought I’d find you resting.” Thor said.

Eyes pinned firmly on the ground; Fenrir said “I didn’t know if I should.”

“We have several hours till the evening meal. You could sleep until then if you wish.” Thor said, gesturing across the room to his bed.

“Isn’t that your bed?” Thor nodded yes. “I’d rather not. I’m fine here.” He stammered.

Thor thought this was a strange response but decided to ignore it for the time being. “What would you like to do then?” Fenrir seemed poised to speak several times but always stopped himself before any words came out. “Come; don’t be shy, anything at all.”

“I was wondering.” Fenrir stopped midsentence. “Do you think…Are any of my things still here?”

“I don’t know. Come with me.” Thor said, making his way back to the door. “If they are here then they’d be in Loki’s rooms.”

“No, wait.” Fenrir said, jumping up from his chair. “You don’t need to-I shouldn’t be going into my father’s room without-” Thor cut him off as he grabbed him by the arm.

“No worries. After all we’re just looking for some of your old things. Loki would never deny you such a simple request.” Fenrir still hesitated and, once again, Thor had to half drag his nephew down the halls of the palace. Even when they arrived at Loki’s chambers Thor had to push him inside. “What are we looking for?”

“I don’t know… maybe some of my old books.” Fenrir said quietly. Thor smiled at the mention of books, yet more proof that it was indeed Loki’s son he was dealing with, and began rummaging through the room. Fenrir didn’t like that they were going through his father’s things without his permission, but Thor did say that it was alright. He forced himself to look around the room. 

There were so many things here that he remembered. Tools his father used in his magic, tapestries that had been hung before he was born, and the daggers. There, spread out on the table in front of him, were several of his father’s throwing daggers. He’d just begun teaching Fenrir how to use them when he’d been taken away. Fenrir reached forward; wanting so much to hold something of his father’s.

“Fenris!” Thor shouted. Fenrir yanked his hand back in terror. Of course he wouldn’t be allowed to touch a weapon. He spun around to accept his uncle’s punishment and saw him sitting across the room in front of a large trunk. “Come see what I’ve found.” Fenrir sighed in relief. His uncle hadn’t seen him. He walked over to the trunk. Inside he saw his toys, clothes, books, almost everything that he’d once owned. He reached in and pulled out a small, blue cloak that he’d worn when he’d been barely 100. “I’d forgotten he’d enchanted your things.” Thor said.

“What?”

“After you died, um, were taken, Loki enchanted many of your things so that they wouldn’t age. He wanted to preserve what he could.” 

Fenrir took another look at the cloak and saw that, indeed, it hadn’t faded at all over the years. Everything in the trunk looked like it had just been put there by a little boy who might be coming anytime to retrieve them. He put the cloak back and gathered up his courage. There was something that he needed to know and he couldn’t stand waiting any longer.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” Thor said with a smile.

“Is my father dead?”

“No! No, your father is alive.”

“Then where is he? Heimdall can find anyone in the universe if he looks, so how can Frigga not know where he is?” Fenrir asked.

“Loki learned years ago how to shield himself with magic. No one sees him unless he wants them to.” Thor explained.

“Why wouldn’t he want you to know where he is?” Fenrir asked. Thor quickly tried to think up an excuse, but Fenrir didn’t give him a chance.  
“I tried to ask your friend, Sif, about him and she said she thought you should be the one to tell me. If he were just on a quest there’d be nothing to tell. I know something’s happened to him. Tell me, please.” Fenrir begged. 

“Loki is alive.” Thor said. “But I’m afraid that he has greatly changed since you last saw him.” This was the last thing in the world that Thor wanted to do. He could see the pain on his nephews face as he heard about his father. He wanted to lie, or at least delay the truth for a few days, but Frigga was right. It was secrets that had first put a wedge between them and Loki and he couldn’t let the same thing happen again. So Thor sat his nephew down and began to explain about how his father had become a villain.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I have officially graduated... more or less. In celebration I now present chapter five.

“I don’t understand,” Fenrir said, once Thor had finished his story. “If you and my father are enemies, then why did you release me?”

“You’re my nephew. Whatever happens between your father and I that will never change,” Thor explained as he reached out to comfort his nephew.

“But it did change,” Fenrir said, swatting Thor’s hand away. “You said yourself that you and my father aren’t really brothers. We’re not even Aesir.” He added to himself. 

“That doesn’t matter.” Thor said.

“But it does. Don’t you understand; this explains everything. What I did on Svartalfheim, all the people I hurt, it was because of what I am. If it hadn’t happened there then it would have happened here.” Fenrir said, standing up and backing away from Thor. “It’s inevitable. I’m a monster and monsters kill people.”

“Fenris,” Thor said, reaching out to his nephew again.

“No!” Fenrir yelled, wrapping his arms around himself. “What if I hurt more people? I’m going to go crazy just like my father.”

“You’re not crazy,” Thor insisted.

“And neither is your father,” Thor and Fenrir turned to see Frigga standing in the doorway. “Fenris, please sit down.” Frigga said, stepping into the room.

“No, stay away from me,” Fenrir insisted, throwing his arms out in front of him.

“Fenrir, come sit down,” Frigga said.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Fenrir whispered.

“Then don’t.” She said, indicating where she wanted him to sit. For a moment it appeared to Thor and Frigga that Fenrir was going to stay exactly where he was. Then, slowly, he made his way across the room. Thor moved to comfort his nephew when Frigga stopped him.

“Thor,” she said, “I’d like to have some time alone with my grandson. Would you leave until dinner?” Before Thor could answer Fenrir began to panic again.

“What, no! Thor, don’t leave her alone with me,” Fenrir begged.

“Perhaps I should stay,” Thor offered.

“No, there are some things that I need to say to Fenrir,” She said. “I’m not afraid to be alone with my grandson,” She added, when Fenrir began to protest again and confusion quickly replaced the fear in Fenrir’s eyes. 

“It’s alright Thor, you can go,” She said, as she walked Thor out into the hallway. Then, before he could say anything else, she closed the door and shut him out. 

&&&&&

It was hours until Frigga and Fenrir had finally emerged from Loki’s room. Thor jumped to his feet as soon as he heard the door open. Thor had hoped that after their talk Frigga would have reassured him, but when they came out Fenrir still looked as nervous as he’d been when Thor had left. At least he was no longer shaking, and he was letting Frigga lead him out by the hand. That at least was something.

“Thor,” Frigga said, acting as though she hadn’t known that he would be waiting outside the door for them to come out. “I’m glad you’re back. Fenrir and I just had a wonderful talk. I think we understand each other much better now.

“I think that it would be a good idea for you to take Fenris around the palace tomorrow. Much has changed since he’s been gone but I think that it’s time he was reminded of the prince he is.” Frigga said, reaching up to smooth Fenrir’s hair and, for the first time since he’d been back, he didn’t pull away from her touch.

“We could begin now.” Thor offered.

“Tomorrow will do fine. Its past time we all went to dinner,” Frigga said. 

“I’ll take you to see the library first thing in the morning.” Thor promised. “You always loved to go there when you were small.” 

 

&&&&&

“I think he remembers me,” Fenrir said, as Sleipnir nuzzled him over the gate of his stall.

“It’s hard to forget a boy who never came to the stables without giving him a treat,” Thor said.

“I couldn’t deny my brother,” Fenrir said with a smirk. “Do the people of Midgard still think that my father gave birth to him?”

“I haven’t heard anyone mention it, but the story was still strong a few hundred years ago,” Thor admitted. Fenrir smiled at the horse and stroked his nose. 

“There are worse brothers I could have,” Fenrir said. Thor looked over at his nephew indulgently, and fought against his desire to embrace. This was the first time that Fenris had openly smiled since his return to Asgard, and Thor didn’t want to upset the moment. 

As much as Thor had wanted to disregard his mother’s fears, after spending a week with his nephew he couldn’t ignore how much he had been damaged by his time away. Fenrir acted like he thought that everyone who came near him was a snake about to strike and, with the exception of Thor and Frigga, seemed determined not to so much as speak to anyone unless pushed. Even Thor, who he seemed to trust the most, was not completely above suspicion. Fenrir still tensed up whenever Thor moved to hug him and more than once Thor had caught Fenrir watching him nervously, as though he were waiting for the moment Thor would turn on him. 

This alone would have been enough to make Thor hate Auolies, but each day lead to new discoveries that left Thor itching to raise an army. Still, since he knew that such a response was out of his power, he had to settle for welcoming Fenrir home. In truth, Thor couldn’t have been happier to reintroduce his nephew to Asgard. Unfortunately the feeling didn’t appear to be mutual. While he allowed Thor to drag him all over the palace, Fenrir showed little to no enthusiasm for the venture. 

Thor’s efforts didn’t seem to be doing much to change his mind on the subject. The library, where he’d loved to spend hours as a child, seemed to have lost its allure without a father to follow behind and question. Fenrir’s lack of interest in the training yard had been almost heartbreaking for Thor. And the tour of the weapons rooms: that had been an utter disaster. Almost as soon as they’d entered the room Fenrir had nearly collapsed in fear at the thought of what such instruments could be used for and Thor had almost needed to carry him out. 

Even the Arcanum, where Loki had always gone for comfort, had only caught Fenrir’s eye for a few moments. The chance to use his magic seemed like it might finally be the thing that would excite him, but Fenrir only got as far as lighting a few candles before he retreated back into himself. It was almost enough to make a man give up. But then there were the moments like these; watching his nephew smile as he was tickled by horse whiskers.

“Do you think you still remember how to ride?” Thor asked, remembering the last time when he, Loki and Fenrir had gone hunting together.

“I don’t know,” Fenrir said. Thor was disappointed when he saw that the smile had already disappeared. 

“I’ll take you out tomorrow. You’ve always been a fast learner; I’m sure you’ll remember it all quickly enough. A prince of Asgard must know how to ride,” Thor watched as, for just a second, the smile ghosted back across Fenris’s face. For the rest of the day Thor smiled for the both of them.

&&&&&  
That night Frigga was late to their evening meal. When she arrived she went to give Thor a kiss on the forehead. It was a gesture that Thor had outgrown many years earlier, but the display made it easier to repeat the process on her grandson. Aside from Thor, Frigga was the only person that Fenrir allowed to come so close.

“How was your day?” She asked, leaving her grandson’s side to take her place at the table. 

“I saw the stables,” Fenrir said quietly. No matter how many times, Thor, encouraged him to speak up, Fenrir, was reluctant to do more than whisper in front of the queen. “Thor said that he’d take me out riding.” Frigga smiled at him.

“We’ll have to see about getting you a horse,” She said.

“I’ve already talked to Fandral. He’s offered to give Fenrir one of his horses.” Thor said, deciding to leave out the part where Fandral had made the offer as an apology for not helping to rescue Fenrir. 

“He can certainly spare one.” Frigga said with a smile. “From what I hear of the stables, his animals are all about as social as their master.”

The conversation took all of Fenrir’s attention as he tried to figure out if his uncle’s friend was being criticized by his grandmother. It seemed to be some sort of joke between them, and he wished he could join in, but it still made him feel uncomfortable to be included. 

“And why are you late? There were no troubles at the audiences today, were there?” Thor asked as he began digging into his meal.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Frigga said.

“Well then where were you?” Thor asked again. “In all my life you’ve never been late for a meal by more than a minute or two.”

“Oh no, I was late far more often than that. But it is hard to notice the punctuality of others when you make a habit of missing the first course of a meal,” Frigga teased.

“You know I never liked salad.” Thor said. 

“If you must know I was with your father. I believe that he will wake up any day now.” The rest of the meal was taken up with Thor and Frigga talking excitedly about everything they would have to tell the Allfather when he awoke.

In the excitement of the moment they missed that what little color Fenrir had was draining from his face. Despite the excited voices spinning around him, Fenrir couldn’t help the pit of dread that was forming in his stomach. For, as nice as all their talk sounded, the return of Odin marked an event that he was dreading.

&&&&&

When it was time to retire Fenrir still hadn’t been able to bring himself to speak of his problems aloud. As they prepared for bed Thor continued talking about the ride they would take the next day. Fenrir wanted to be excited about the outing but one thought kept circling in his head. This was too much to bear; he needed to say something.

“Thor…” Fenrir began to speak but fear changed his question at the last minute. “What’s that?” Thor looked to the table to where Fenrir was pointing. 

“It’s a cell phone; a Midgardian device that allows people to communicate across long distances. Sadly it doesn’t work beyond Earth.”

“Then why do you have it?” Fenrir asked.

“I forgot to leave it behind when I came here,” Thor said, with a shrug.

“I suppose you’ll be using it again soon enough when you go back to Midgard,” Thor turned to Fenrir. “With the Allfather waking up, I guess there’s no reason for you to stay.” 

“I may stay a little longer,” Thor said.

“But you are leaving. Frigga asked you to stay but, you said yourself that Midgard is your home now,” Fenrir finished bitterly.

“I have to return to Midgard. I told my team that I’d only be gone for a week and I’ve stayed a month already,” Thor explained.

“I know but Frigga told me that you would stay until the Allfather woke up. I didn’t think he would wake up so soon,” Thor smiled, finally realizing what was troubling his nephew.

“My return to Midgard will not be permanent. I will come back to see you when I can. And with father returned from his slumber Frigga will be able to spend more time with you. Besides, you’re a prince of Asgard. With Odin awake you’ll be reintroduced to court life; you’d hardly have time for me anyway.”

“I don’t want you to leave,” Fenrir said, his voice tight. This was too much for Thor. He immediately snatched Fenrir into a bone crushing hug.

“Soon your life will be so full that you won’t even have time to miss me,” Thor said. 

“But what if something bad happens?” Fenrir asked. “What if something goes wrong and I need your help?”

“Fenris, you’re not on Svartalfheim anymore. You are safe here. There’s nothing for you to worry about,” Thor said. “I will miss you, and I promise I will come back as often as my team can spare me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you know that graduation I mentioned? The thing that I'd really like as a graduation gift is reviews. Let me know what you all think.


	6. Chapter 6

Fenrir and Thor were in the stables the next morning when the guards came. Two Einherjar came running in and dropped into a bow before the two princes.

“My Prince,” One said. “Your father has awakened. He commands your presence in the great hall immediately.” Thor moved to take Fenrir’s arm when the guard continued. “He insisted that you come alone. He was most firm on that point.” Thor once again looked worriedly at Fenrir.

“Oh don’t worry about the boy,” Fandral said, stepping into the stables behind the guards. “I can keep him company until you come back.”

“What in the Nine are you doing awake at this hour?” Thor asked his friend.

“I had planned a rendezvous with a rather lovely seamstress but we had to cut our time short. Something about her husband coming home early,” Fandral said with a sigh. “So I thought I’d come and see that you were taking care of my horse.” Thor laughed but the guards were getting increasingly impatient. 

“He was very clear that you were to come directly to him,” He insisted again. 

“I’ll be right back,” Thor called to his companions as he headed to the palace.

&&&&&

When Thor arrived at the great hall it was empty. He looked around for his father but soon saw that the entire area was deserted. He found a chair and decided to wait. It wasn’t uncommon for his father to be besieged by news and requests from his council the moment he awoke from his sleep and that was undoubtedly the reason he had been delayed. In truth Thor was more surprised that Odin would have any need to see him so soon but then, of course, there was Fenrir! 

Thor realized that Frigga must have told Odin about the return of his grandson as soon as possible. His father must have called him to hear what Thor knew of Fenrir’s imprisonment, before he met the boy himself. Odin would probably want to start a war with Svartalfheim when he heard about how far their deception went. Satisfied that he had figured out what was going on, Thor allowed himself to relax into his seat.

He hadn’t realized how much time had passed until he heard approaching footsteps. He realized, as he rose from his seat, that the light step he heard on the stones couldn’t possibly be his father’s. 

“Thor?” His mother said, entering the hall. “I thought you and Fenris were going out riding.”

“Father summoned me.”

“Your father is in the throne room. He’s been with his council all morning.”

“He sent a group of Einherjar to retrieve me. I assume that he wants to talk about what happened on Svartalfheim.”

“Why didn’t he have you come to him in the throne room?” Frigga asked, with more concern than Thor thought the question deserved. 

“I’m sure he’ll come when he can be spared.”

“Thor, where are the soldiers?” Thor looked at his mother with confusion. “If your father thought a message was urgent enough that he sent einherjar to deliver it than I can’t believe that he wouldn’t have them bring you directly to him,” Frigga looked at her son in near panic. “Come with me, quickly. Something is very wrong.” She said, running from the room.

His mother’s feelings were contagious and soon he was overtaking her in his rush to get to the throne room. When he reached the doors he found his way blocked by several more of the Einherjar.

“Let me pass,” Thor commanded.

“We’ve been given orders that no one is to enter until the king has completed his business,” one of the soldiers said.

“Move.” Frigga said, coming up shortly behind her son. The men seemed conflicted for a moment. On the one hand, they had been told to guard these doors with their lives. On the other hand, only a fool would disobey a direct order from the Queen. They quickly made up their minds and moved to open the doors. 

Odin sat upon his golden throne at the far end of the room. A team of Einherjar clustered in a group in front of him. Thor and Frigga quickly approached.

“I would rather have had you both wait until this unpleasantness was resolved,” Odin said, spotting the two. “However I suppose that it is for the best that you’re both here. This way there can be no dissent later.”

“What is going on?” Frigga asked.

“Upon awaking this morning I was greatly distressed to learn of all that had been going on in my absence. Most specifically your activities on Svartalfheim,” Odin said, directing the last comment toward Thor. “I’ve already sent a delegate to King Auolies. Hopefully it won’t be too late to repair the damage that you’ve done.”

“What! You should be declaring war yourself, not begging his mercy,” Thor shouted.

“Is that how you see it? My truce with Auolies had been on fragile ground for thousands of years, yet we have managed to stay allies. In just a few days you managed to go down to the planet, insult and threaten the king, try and extort treasure and then make off with one of his prisoners.”

“I don’t know who has told you these stories but they have left out the most important detail. The prisoner that I took from his dungeons was Fenrir! Auolies lied when he told you of his death. He had been keeping him as a prisoner; what I did was no less than you yourself would have done.”

“You truly have no idea of the danger that you put this realm in.”

“If Auolies even tries to bring an attack on Asgard then I’ll gladly tear him down myself.” 

“I do not speak of the danger that would come from Svartalfheim. I’m talking about the threat you brought when you released that abomination from its cage,” Odin said, pointing at a spot behind Thor. Thor turned around and saw for the first time what Frigga had already discovered. 

The squad of Einherjar that Thor had passed on his way to his father was surrounding Fenrir’s kneeling form. Thor rushed over to his nephew only to have his way blocked.

“What have you done?” Frigga cried, turning on her husband.

“What was necessary,” Odin said. “You both seem appalled by Auolies actions, but have you forgotten what Fenrir did to bring them on? Of the lives that he took?”

“He was a child,” Frigga insisted.

“Exactly. A child capable of such destruction is not something to be taken lightly. If it hadn’t been for my own weakness I would have killed him myself.”

Thor turned as Odin’s last remark had drawn a cry from Fenrir. For the first time since his arrival in the throne room Thor took a good look at his nephew. Thor thought he had seen Fenrir scared, but nothing compared to the look of pure terror that was now on his face. His arms were bound in front of him with chains and a piece of metal encircled his neck like a collar. Thor’s disgust only grew when he saw that Fenrir’s clothes were splashed with blood. 

“Which one of you did this?” Thor demanded of the soldiers.

“It’s not his blood,” Odin said dryly. “When my men went to retrieve him he attempted to change into his wolf form and tear them apart. Don’t let his look of helplessness fool you. The boy is a killer, just like his father.”

“He was frightened,” Thor explained. “He never would have fought anyone if he hadn’t thought that they were there to do him harm.”

“Yet no harm was caused; except by him. In the few minutes it took to contain him he managed to rip Tyr’s hand off, and would have done worse if he hadn’t been restrained,” Odin said. “And what of your shield brother, Fandral? He attempted to defend him and nearly lost an arm for his troubles.” This stopped Thor cold. What possible reason could Fenrir have had to hurt Fandral?

“This is madness,” Frigga said. “He’s our grandson.” 

“He is nothing to us,” Odin said. “Loki has made very clear that we are no relation of his and as such, neither is his son.”

“You can’t hold him accountable for Loki’s actions,” Frigga insisted.

“I don’t. I hold him accountable for his own,” Odin declared, rising from his throne and descending the stairs in front of him. “This has gone on long enough. Guards, take him down to the dungeons.”

Odin’s command had an instant effect on Fenrir, who immediately began struggling against his captors.

“No!” He yelled, as they pulled him to his feet. “Don’t! Thor! Thor!”

The screams followed him down the halls as he was taken from the room. His nephew’s pleas woke Thor from his stupor and brought him back to the problem in front of him.

“You have to reconsider. Whatever Loki might have convinced himself, Fenrir is a part of our family,” Thor said.

“You show the same misplaced loyalty to him that you showed to his father.”

“My loyalty is not misplaced.”

“Isn’t it, that you would place his wellbeing before that of your realm?”

“He is no threat.” Thor insisted.

“Enough!” Odin declared. “I’ve made my decision.” With that he continued down the stairs and crossed out of the room. Thor moved to follow him but Frigga stopped him with a hand over his chest.

“Leave him for now,” She said. “Go and check on your friend. If what Odin said is true than he’ll be in the healing chambers. Have him tell you what happened and then join me in the dungeons.” Without waiting for a response she left.

 

&&&&&

 

Fandral was sitting up in bed when Thor arrived, a healer rubbing a salve on his arm. Thor almost couldn’t go further for fear of what he might hear. Finally he forced himself to approach the bed. Fandral looked up at his friend with regret.

“I suppose that you heard about what happened?” Fandral asked. Thor nodded. 

“I’m sorry for what Fenrir did to your arm,” Thor said.

“Fenrir?” Fandral asked with surprise. “Is he the one who did it? I’d assumed that it had been one of the guards.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I remember Erikk hitting me from behind with the butt of his spear. Things get a bit hazy after that.” Fandral remembered, rubbing the back of his head.

“I need you to tell me exactly what happened.” Thor begged, hoping that his faith in his nephew hadn’t been misplaced.

“As soon as you were out of sight of the stables the guards moved to restrain Fenrir. The boy began to panic so I tried to help him. The next thing I know weapons are being drawn and I’m battling against my own teammates.” Fandral said, still unable to comprehend the bizarre turn the morning had taken.

“And what was Fenris doing during all of this?”

“Last I saw of him he was trying to run. I tried to pull a few of the guards off of him and that’s when I was hit.”

“What about your arm?” 

“I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t even know about it until I woke up. I just assumed that I was slashed at some point in the melee.” This was no surprise to Thor, as Fandral had often not taken notice of his injuries until a battle was over. 

“So it wasn’t Fenrir who attacked you?”

“It might have been, but I can’t see when he would have had the chance. Who told you that it was him?”

 

&&&&&

 

When Thor arrived in the dungeons it was with a new hope. He was convinced that Fenrir had had no part in what had happened to Fandral. With that one piece of information all of his faith in his nephew’s goodness had been returned. 

The palace dungeons were large and at first Thor was at a loss for where to look for his nephew. He’d assumed that he’d be brought to the main holding area, but when those cells proved empty of any but common criminals Thor was forced to expand his search. It was with an increasing feeling of unpleasantness that Thor went into the lower levels of the dungeon. He was beginning to suspect where Fenrir had been brought and the thought wasn’t encouraging.

A few years ago the crystal containment cells had been the most secure on Asgard. They were believed to be impenetrable and so when Loki had been returned to Asgard that was where he’d been taken. For five months it seemed that all was well until one morning a guard had gone to bring Loki a meal and found the cell empty. No one, not even Heimdall, had been able to figure out how Loki had escaped. The next day Odin had begun construction on a cell that could contain Loki, no matter what magic he used.

Thor supposed that he shouldn’t have been surprised when he found his mother waiting for him in Loki’s cell. 

“Fandral was hurt by one of the Einherjar. Fenris had nothing to do with it,” Thor proclaimed, as he entered the room.

“I was sure that he hadn’t. I’m glad that he removed your doubt,” Frigga said sadly. She was crouched on the floor in front of Fenrir, who was curled up, clutching his knees to the front of his chest. “He’s in shock. He hasn’t said a word since I came in.”

Thor moved to sit next to his mother. He could clearly hear Fenrir’s harsh breathing. Thor wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around his nephew, but he had the feeling that that would only make matters worse. 

“What do we do?” Thor asked. 

“I don’t know.” Frigga said, caressing Fenrir’s cheek. “You father seems set in his hate. I never thought he could be capable of something so cruel.”

“We have to get him out of here,” Thor said, rising to his feet. “I didn’t free him from one prison only to see him locked into another,” 

“I see no easy solution.”

“It need not be easy,” Thor said. 

“Do you really mean that?” Frigga asked, looking away from her grandson for the first time since Thor had entered the room. “How much are you truly willing to do for him?”

Thor saw immediately that this was no idle question. He looked at his nephew cowering in front of his mother. He was reminded of when Loki had been locked in his own cell after his attempt to conquer Midgard with the Chitauri had failed. Frigga had brought him to try and help her reason with Loki. To get him to see reason and accept the terrible weight of what he’d done. It was then, as Loki made clear the contempt he had for all humans, that Thor realized how lost his brother was. Loki was so filled with hate that only a miracle would make any difference. Thor saw that by not seeing how dark the path his brother was on, and Loki would always be his brother, that he had failed him.

As he thought of all this Thor knew that he had the answer to his mother’s question. He wasn’t going to fail Fenris.

“I’ll do whatever it takes if it means Fenris will have his freedom,” This brought a fleeting smile to Frigga’s face that was soon replaced with concern.

“There may be a way. In truth it is the only way that I can see but, even if we can get Odin to agree, then Fenris’s entire future would be uncertain.”

“Tell me what I must do,” Thor said without hesitation.

“Stay with Fenris for now. I’ll need time to sway Odin to my plan and in the meantime I won’t be able to come here as much as I’d like. Also, I’ll need you to stay as far away from your father as you can,” She finished without explanation.

“Since I’ll be spending my time here, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Then I suppose there’s no reason for me to delay.” She said, moving to stand. 

While Fenrir hadn’t seemed to register Frigga’s presence, the prospect of her removal seemed to wake him up. He looked up at her, eyes pleading with her not to leave. She knelt back down and kissed him on the forehead.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll return as soon as I can,” She whispered, and then left the room. 

Immediately Fenrir’s eyes turned to Thor, no longer holding their look of loving hope.

“Leave,” He hissed.

“Fenris,” Thor began.

“I want you gone.”

“Frigga told me to stay with you.” Thor crouched down in front of his nephew only to have him push himself away.

“I don’t want you here. Go back to Earth,” Fenrir said, with a glare.

“I will not leave you.”

“You already left me. You left me alone in the stables and let those men take me.” Fenrir said. 

“I never thought you would be in any danger.”

“Liar,” Fenrir muttered. “You told me my life here would be good. You said that when Odin woke up everything would be alright. You said that you would keep me safe; you lied about everything!”

This was the first time Thor had heard Fenrir raise his voice. Up until this moment it had seemed like the sound of his own voice had been too much for the boy. Several times Thor had found himself wishing that he would discover his confidence and speak without hesitation. The realization of his wish was a somewhat hollow victory.

“I’m sorry,” Thor said. 

Fenrir’s anger seemed to evaporate. Slowly he rose to his feet and walked to the other end of his cell; going as far from Thor as he could. He sat down in a corner and curled back into himself.

“Please, just leave me alone,” He said, more to himself than to his uncle.

Thor tried to think of something he could say to his nephew, something that would show him that he was on his side. That he wasn’t going to abandon him. He tried, but he couldn’t think of anything. So, without another word, he got up and he walked out of the dungeons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Odin really is a master at family relations, isn't he?   
> Thanks for all of you who have reviewed so far. I'm getting addicted to response. To feed my habit, click review.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this at three in the morning. Everything seems coherent but if you are reading and see anyone sprout a second head, or there are unexplained bunnies in a scene, please let me know so I can call animal control and have them deleted.

Chapter 7 

Thor wandered the halls of the palace, trying to calm down. What he wanted most was to summon Mjolnir, smash the walls of the dungeons and fly his nephew to safety, but he knew that that wouldn’t do any good. Odin seemed convinced that Fenrir was a danger and would insist on hunting them both down. And, since Fenrir had decided that he hated Thor, he might decide that imprisonment was preferable to an escape with him. 

Thor passed a statue of Ysgadril and impulsively put his fist through it. The sound of smashing stone drew servants and Thor left them to deal with the mess. Before he knew where he was going he found himself back at his own rooms. 

Thor went inside and paced for a while. He fought against his urge to run back down to the dungeon. After everything Fenrir suffered he deserved to have some control. If he wanted Thor to leave then he would leave. For a while at least.

“Thor?” Sif said, entering the room. “I was hoping I’d find you here. I heard what happened at the stables.”

“I suppose Fandral told you,” Thor said.

“No, I haven’t been to see him yet, is he alright?”

“He’ll be fine. He’ll probably be back on his feet by days end,” Thor said, continuing to move around in circles.

“And how are you?” Sif asked, following her friend as he paced around the room.

“I can’t believe that he would do something like this. I never would have thought him capable of something so heartless.”

“Thor,” Sif stopped in front of Thor, blocking his movements. “I know that you had high hopes for how this would all turn out. But you had to know it was a risk when you brought him back.”

“How could I have known this would happen?”

“It’s not as though this is the first time Fenrir has attacked someone. I know that you wanted to believe in his goodness but there was always the chance that he was going to strike out again,” Sif said, reaching out an arm to comfort her friend.

“Fenris didn’t do anything,” Thor growled, pulling out of Sif’s grasp. “The Einherjar attacked him. All he did he did in self-defense.”

“Did he tell you this?” Sif challenged. “The entire palace is talking about it, Thor. Over a dozen people saw him go after Tyr and if there was any aggressor then it was Fenrir.”

“They’re wrong,” Thor insisted.

“And is the All-Father wrong too? Thor you should know your father well enough to know that he wouldn’t sentence someone to the dungeons who didn’t deserve to be there,” Sif said. “Your father knows what he’s doing. Trust him, even if you can’t trust me.” For a moment Sif thought she might have gotten through to him, but then he spoke.

“I trust Frigga, she believes in Fenrir, and so do I,” Thor said.

“Then it would seem that I’m wasting my time here,” Sif didn’t stay for long after that, and Thor was glad to have the room to himself again.

Thor dropped down onto his bed, feeling completely exhausted. What they were saying in the palace was nonsense. There was no way that Fenrir would begin a fight and he was tired of people trying to convince him that he had. He looked around the room and his eyes landed on the pile of blankets that Fenrir had been using as a bed. 

Thor had offered to have another bed brought into the room, and later to arrange for a second room, but Fenrir had always turned him down. He’d insisted that he was more comfortable on the floor. Thor groaned as he fell backwards on the bed. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

Thor turned to look back at the blankets and saw something sticking out from between the folds. He got up and moved the blankets to take a look. It was a book of legends the Fenrir had been reading the night before. It was one of Loki’s and so far it had been the only thing that Fenrir had allowed himself to take from his father’s room. Thor picked it up and decided that he would bring it with him when he brought Fenrir his supper. 

 

&&&&&

 

Fenrir jerked up when he saw the door open, but relaxed when he saw that it was only his uncle. 

“I brought you dinner,” Thor said, pushing a tray across the floor.

“I’m not hungry,” Fenrir said, curling farther into the corner where he was sitting.

“Perhaps later then. I brought you something else as well,” Thor said, offering out the book.

The moment Fenrir saw what his uncle was offering he snatched it from his hands and held it tightly to his chest.

“Thank you,” He whispered.

“I could bring other things if you’d like. More books or something,” Thor offered, wanting to regain his nephews trust while he had the opportunity. 

“No, I don’t… I don’t need anything,” Fenrir said, so quietly that Thor almost missed the last word. For a while the two men sat in silence before Fenrir spoke again.

“I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier. I shouldn’t have done that,” He said, as quietly as before. “It’s not your fault that I’m here.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to defend you,” Thor said. “Fenris. Fenris, look at me.” Thor waited until he saw Fenrir’s eyes to continue. “You are not going to stay in this cell. Even now Frigga is speaking on your behalf. We will have you released.”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing has changed,” Fenrir sat back against the wall and pulled his legs up to his chest. “It was my own foolishness. I knew what would happen when he woke up but the way that you and Frigga spoke made me believe that his feelings might have changed.”

“Odin is acting from the belief that you are a threat. As soon as he can be made to see the truth he will care for you as he once did,” Fenrir looked at Thor in confusion for a few moments before speaking.

“Odin always hated me. He was more than happy to send me away, when given the chance.”

“I know that it must seem like that now, but you must remember that there was a time when Odin cared greatly for you,” Fenrir continued to stare at Thor in disbelief.

“I was his bastard grandson and a constant reminder of his son’s short comings. If it had been up to him my father never would have brought me home.”

“How can you think that?” Thor asked, stunned at what he was hearing. 

“Because it’s true. I heard them fight about it more than once. Odin wanted my father to send me away, but he wouldn’t,” For a moment Fenrir seemed lost in a memory. “I was his. I was his and he would never give me up.”

“You must have misunderstood. You were only a child, you may not be remembering correctly,” Thor insisted.

“Perhaps.” Fenrir said, suddenly seeming to be exhausted. “I’ve been wrong about a lot of things.”

 

&&&&&

 

It was two more days before Frigga could return to the dungeons. Upon entering she went straight to her grandson and kissed him on the forehead. He leaned into her touch and, for a moment, Thor was jealous at the trust that his mother was able to bring forth so effortlessly.

“How are you?” She asked, kneeling to sit beside him.

“I’m fine. Thor’s been bringing me meals,” Fenrir said.

“I’m so sorry that you’ve had to endure all of this, but it won’t be for much longer.”

“Does this mean that you’ve gotten father to see reason?” Thor asked, hopefully.

“It is almost done. I must return to him shortly but I wanted to see you,” She said, kissing Fenrir again. “And I need to speak with you.” She said turning to Thor. “Would you escort me out?” Thor rose to join his mother and walked her out of the cell. They were only a few paces away when she stopped him. 

“You said that you would do anything for Fenris. If you have any doubts then you need to tell me now,” The look in Frigga’s eyes left no doubt as to the severity of the question.

“I meant what I said,” Thor said.

“In some ways things are going better than I’d hoped,” Frigga said, relaxing slightly. “I have been able to convince your father to consider an alternative to imprisonment. But he still insists on so many conditions that his fate would hardly be an improvement on what he has now. One way or another, it will be decided by the end of the day.” 

Thor waited for her to explain her plans to him but she seemed determined to keep him in the dark.

“I hope you’re successful,” He said, at a loss for what to do.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud to be your mother than I have been in this past week,” She said, smiling and embracing her son. “I must go and finish what I have begun. Try and reassure Fenris. He’s doing his best to hide it, but he’s terrified of what might happen to him.” Frigga began to leave but Thor stopped her.

“Before you go there is something I need to ask you. It is something Fenris said,” Frigga stood and waited for her son to speak. “Fenris said that, as a child, he heard Loki and father fighting over him. That father wanted him sent away but Loki wouldn’t allow it. Is this true?”

“Your brother’s situation wasn’t exactly typical.” Frigga said. “It would have been different if he’d married the girl. Then it would have just been seen as an act of romance. Without her….”

“So he was ashamed of him.” Thor said, stunned.

“It was more complicated than that,” Frigga said, sadly. When it became clear that Thor had nothing else to say Frigga left. Thor continued on in the hall and tried to understand what he’d just learned. How had he never known this about his father? It was true that most men in Loki’s situation didn’t choose to raise their children themselves, but there was no harm in it. Thor continued to process this new knowledge as he walked back to the cell but the sight he saw when he entered pushed all other thoughts from his mind.

Fenrir’s neck was covered in blood and he was clawing at his flesh. Thor rushed over and pushed his nephew’s hands to the floor.

“NO!” Fenrir shouted, struggling to free his arms.

“What are you doing?” Thor demanded.

“I want it off!” Fenrir screamed. He continued to struggle and finally Thor slammed a hand into his chest and pushed him to the floor.

“Stop!” He commanded. The impact seemed to have the desired effect and Fenrir calmed down. “What’s wrong?” Thor asked.

Fenrir’s eyes filled with tears at the question. Thor let him up and his hands immediately went to his neck. Thor was about to grab him again when he saw that his nephew wasn’t trying to hurt himself. Now he was merely pulling at the steel collar that he’d been wearing since he’d been captured. The metal was covered in runes that prevented Fenrir from using his magic and also stopped any attempt he might have made to leave the cell.

“Please take it off,” Fenrir begged. “I promise I’ll never use magic again.”

“Only Odin can take it off,” Thor said. At this, Fenrir began to cry in earnest.

“Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?” He sobbed.

“I couldn’t let you hurt yourself,” Thor explained, as he searched the room for something he could use as a bandage.

“I meant on Svartalfheim. You should have just left me there.” 

“You were being tortured. I couldn’t just leave you.”

“It was better. It was better before,” Fenrir insisted, as he got to his feet. Thor saw that he’d begun scratching at his neck again and went back to pull his hands away. “I knew that I was never going to leave. I knew that I was going to be in that cell until I died. I had accepted that. I was resigned to it. Now it’s going to be worse than ever.”

“Fenris, we’re going to get you out of here.”

“Was it fun? Dragging me all over the palace,” Fenrir snarled at his uncle. “Showing me all the things I used to care about. Showing me all the things that could make me happy and knowing that you were just going to take them away again?”

Thor caught him as he crumpled to the ground. “I believed you.” Fenrir said with a sob. “I believed everything you said about how I was safe. How happy I was going to be. I believed all of it,” Thor pulled his nephew into a hug and, for the first time, Fenrir didn’t pull away.

“I don’t want to be locked up again,” Fenrir said. “Please, I can’t do it again.” 

Thor continued to hold him while he sobbed; knowing that whatever answer the Allfather gave he was getting his nephew out of this cell. 

 

&&&&&

 

They were still like that when Frigga came back. Thor, sitting on the floor with his arms around his nephew, and Fenrir slumped against him. 

“Has he made his decision?” Thor asked.

“He has,” Frigga said, sitting down in front of them and placing a wooden box beside her. “Odin has agreed to change your sentence to banishment, instead of imprisonment, as long as you are willing to agree to his conditions.”

“Anything,” Fenrir said, straightening up.

“The first is that you not use your magic,” Frigga said, opening the box and taking out two gold manacles. “You must agree to wear these. They are similar to the collar you’ve been wearing. They will suppress your magic.”

“Will I be able to take off the collar?” Fenrir asked, fingering the metal around his neck. Frigga nodded, and he took the manacles without complaint.

“After your banishment you will be forever barred from returning to Asgard. Once you leave this cell you must go straight to the Bifrost. If you should ever return to Asgard, for any reason, then-” Frigga struggled to finish her sentence. “If you ever return to Asgard then your life will be forfeit.” There was a moment of silence following Frigga’s admission.

“Has he said…Where does he want me to go?” Fenrir asked, nervously.

“He has agreed to let you go to Midgard with Thor,” Frigga said. She turned to her son for her next piece of news. “All of this is dependent on your agreeing to be his guardian. You will need to be responsible for him and if he were to break the terms of his banishment then you would share in his punishment.”

Thor couldn’t believe this. He’d been expecting his part in all of this to be some terrible task and all that was being asked was that he watch over his nephew! Nothing could be easier. Thor smiled at Fenrir.

“It looks as though you won’t need to miss me after all,” He said. Fenrir looked at his uncle and then down at the floor.

“Fenris, will you agree to go with Thor?” Frigga asked.

“Did…Didn’t my father try and begin a war with Midgard?” Fenrir asked. “Don’t you think they might be mad?”

“The only people who will need to know of your parentage will be my teammates, and they would never hold you accountable for something that you didn’t do,” Thor assured him. Fenrir still seemed uneasy but he agreed to go live with his uncle on Earth.

“The last condition concerns your father,” Frigga said. “Odin won’t stop Loki from knowing that you’re alive, even from trying to contact you, but you can never go with him. If Loki is ever seen to be in possession of you then Odin will send down the Einherjar and you’ll be in the dungeons within the hour.”

“You speak of him like he’s a sword,” Thor said, confused.

“I’m only trying to make your father’s ruling clear. This was the point that he was most firm on. He’s convinced that if you and your father are reunited then you would attempt to destroy Asgard.”

“I wouldn’t do something like that,” Fenrir whispered.

“We know that,” Thor said.

“The rule is only that you can’t live with him. As long as the two of you don’t appear to be plotting destruction then there is no reason he couldn’t come and see you,” Frigga said. “I made sure of that.”

“I agree. I agree to all of it,” Fenrir said, quickly.

“Is there anything else?” Thor asked.

“No.”

“Then when can I take him out of here?”

“Fenris can leave as early as tomorrow, but once he leaves this cell he must be taken straight to the Bifrost.”

“Then that is when we’ll leave,” Thor said, standing up. “I’ll go prepare for our departure.” Thor said, rising from his place on the floor. “I’ll return in the morning. Will you be alright alone until I return?” Fenrir slid a hand along the scratches on his neck before pulling his arm down to his side.

“I’ll be good,” Fenrir said, with a nod.

“I’ll come to get you at first light; you have my word,” Thor promised.

“Are you sure that you’ll be ready to leave so soon?” Frigga asked, when Thor joined her in the hallway.

“There isn’t much I need to do. Say good bye to my friends and gather a few things. There is a chest in Loki’s room that I think Fenris would want to have. Besides that I could leave now.”

“I’m glad. The sooner Fenris is away from here the better,” She smiled at Thor. “I know you’ll keep him safe.”

“There is one thing I must know,” Thor said. “You kept asking me what I would be willing to do for Fenris and how far I would go to see him free. Were you really so concerned that I wouldn’t take him to Midgard with me?”

“No. I knew that if I could convince Odin to agree to banishment then you would do what was right,” Frigga said. 

“Then why did you keep asking me for a pledge of devotion?”

“We both swore that we wouldn’t allow Fenris to be imprisoned again,” Frigga said, taking a deep breath. “If Odin had refused to set him free, then I would have had to ask you free him yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I live for reviews.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the massive delay. Remember that graduation that I mentioned? Well it seems that my education isn't quite as complete as I'd hoped it was. Darn summer classes. But the next two chapters are almost done so they should be coming much faster. Thanks so much to those of you who are still reading this.

The next morning, Thor was still reeling from the revelation that his mother had been prepared to commit treason. He was so caught in the thought that he didn’t see Sif approaching until he almost ran into her.

“Sif, I’m glad to see you. I couldn’t find you last night when I was saying farewell and I was afraid I wouldn’t have a chance to talk to you before I left,” Thor said.

“So the rumors are true,” Sif said, eyeing the chest Thor was carrying over his shoulder. “You really are bringing Fenrir to Midgard.” 

“I’m on my way to his cell now.” 

“Thor, where exactly on Midgard are you planning to take Fenrir?” Sif asked, walking alongside Thor as he began moving down the hall.

“He’ll stay at Avengers Tower with me.”

“You and the Avengers?”

“Naturally.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Thor stopped to face his friend.

“You still think that he’s dangerous don’t you?” 

“I think that this plan is dangerous.” Sif said, slowly.

“This plan was made by Frigga. She would not send her only grandson to Midgard if she did not think it was for the best,” He explained.

“Frigga is desperate to get Fenrir out of the dungeon. Her judgment might not be as clear as it usually is.” Sif reasoned.

“She wants him to be safe, and what safer place could he find than the home of me and the Avengers?” Thor shifted the chest from one shoulder to the next before continuing.  
“Thor, your friends might not be thrilled at the idea of housing the son of their greatest enemy,” Sif explained.

“My teammates will understand. Besides any concerns they might have will vanish when they learn that his magic is being suppressed.”

“Don’t take him with you, Thor,” Sif said. Thor was about to argue, when she continued. “Not until you tell your teammates what is going on. If they’re really as understanding as you think then Fenrir will only be delayed a few days.”

“I can’t force him to spend another hour in that cell. Not when I promised him that we would be leaving,” Thor saw the logic of what Sif said, and in truth he was worried about how the other Avengers would react to Fenrir, but he couldn’t change his plans. So he said his goodbye and continued on his way. Unfortunately, he soon found the path to the dungeon blocked.

“Preparing to bring your new charge to Midgard?” Odin asked, eyeing the chest over Thor’s shoulder. Thor remained silent and waited for Odin to move away from the door. Finally Odin stepped to the side and motioned for Thor to continue on.

“You think my actions are cruel?” Odin asked, just as Thor had begun to descend the stairs.

“I think they are insane,” Thor said, refusing to look back. 

“You still allow your emotions to rule over your judgment. As a king you’ll have to see the truth beyond your own desires.” Odin said.

“And what is the truth?” Thor demanded, slamming the chest to the ground. “What is it about Fenrir that you hate so much? What are you afraid of?”

“When Loki brought his son home I was displeased but I allowed it. I saw no harm in letting him play at fatherhood. But a few weeks after his arrival a seer came to the palace with a prophesy about Fenrir,” Odin said.

“And she told you about what would happen on Svartalfheim?” Thor asked.

“No. She said that Fenrir would become powerful beyond control. That one day he would stand before the greatest warrior in the realm and bring him to his knees. And that he would be the one to bring Ragnarok to Asgard,” Odin finished and for a moment Thor felt himself frozen. 

“Prophesies don’t always come true,” He said, finally. “And even then they are rarely what we think they will be. It might not mean what it sounds like it means,” Thor said, wanting to convince himself as much as his father.

“I once convinced myself the same thing. For years I was able to hope that Fenrir would be nothing to fear; but then Loki began to teach him magic. You remember how quickly he learned tricks that took his father years to master,” Odin said. “I saw the danger building and still I allowed him to remain. Then we brought him to Svartalfheim.”

“That was an accident,” Thor said.

“There was no denying what he was, or what he would do, after that,” Odin said, ignoring Thor. “King Auolies was eager to have justice for his people, so I agreed to his terms and rid Asgard of a threat.”

“You knew what he was going to do to Fenrir?” 

“The details of his imprisonment were irrelevant. Auolies agreed to keep him contained and without access to his magic, and that was all that mattered,” Odin said. Thor felt sick at what he was hearing. 

“Now you know all,” Odin said. “It is not too late for you to change your mind. Leave the boy where he is and return to Midgard on your own,” Thor began to protest but Odin quickly interrupted him. “It won’t be like Svartalfheim. The only person who would have access to his cell would be Frigga. He will not be harmed; merely confined,” Odin had barely finished speaking when Thor made his answer.

“No,” He said, picking the trunk up from where he’d left it. He turned to leave when Odin stopped him again.

“Thor,” He said, quietly. “Once Fenrir leaves Asgard his threat to us will be gone. As long as he obeys the terms of his banishment then I need never be concerned with him again. But the threat to you will be greater than ever. There is no question that on Midgard you are ‘the greatest warrior in the realm’.”

“I will take the risk,” Thor said, turning his back on his father and going down to the dungeon. 

 

&&&&&

“Thor,” Fenrir jumped to his feet the moment he saw the door open. “Are we going?”

“We can go as soon as-” Thor stopped mid-sentence when he saw the Fenrir’s neck was bare. “How did you get the collar off?” Fenrir’s eyes immediately dropped to the ground.

“O-Odin sent someone here already. He… he took the collar off,” Fenrir said. “Are we going?” He asked again, looking at Thor nervously.

“With the collar gone there’s nothing left to stop us.” A look of relief drifted across Fenrir’s face so quickly that Thor almost missed it; but not quite.

For the first time since his arrival on Asgard Thor didn’t have to drag Fenrir along behind him. As they left the dungeons Fenrir hurried to keep pace with his uncle. Looking over Thor saw that Fenrir was holding tightly to the book he’d brought him on his first day in the dungeon. He offered to put it into the chest but Fenrir seemed reluctant to let it go so they simply continued on their way to the Bifrost. 

“Frigga,” Fenrir said, when he saw his grandmother waiting for him. “You came.”

“I couldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye,” Frigga replied, going to join him. Thor decided to let them have a moment alone and went over to stand with Heimdall. 

“Where am I sending you?” Heimdall asked, giving Fenrir a wary look.

“To Midgard,” Thor said, when suddenly he got an idea. “To the land of my Lady Jane.” Heimdall gave him a questioning look before nodding his head.

“Very well,” He said, opening the bridge. Thor turned to where his mother and Fenrir were still talking.

“Fenris, are you ready to go?” Thor asked. Fenrir took one last look at Frigga before he nodded and went to join Thor.

 

&&&&&

 

The trip between the realms took less than a minute, but it was enough time for Fenrir to completely lose his composure. As soon as their landing was complete Fenrir dropped to his hands and knees, breathing deeply.

“I’m sorry,” He said to the sand.

Thor held out a hand to help his nephew up. He wanted to say something comforting. Anything to reassure his nephew.

“We’ll walk from here,” Was all he could come up with. Still it seemed that it was enough and Fenrir reached out a hand and let Thor help him up. 

They were only a few minutes into their walk toward the town when Thor saw a glint of light moving toward them in the distance. 

“She must have seen us land,” A huge smile lit up his face as he watched the van approach. Thor swung an arm around his nephew. “It seems you won’t need to walk after all.”

Fenrir watched the van pull up to them and fought against his desire to shake Thor off. The van stopped and Jane sprang out of the driver’s seat. Thor let go of Fenrir and opened his arms to catch Jane.

“Thor!” Jane yelled, springing into his arms. Fenrir wished that he could smile at what was clearly a happy reunion. But once they started kissing he couldn’t help but stare at the ground and wait for it to be over. “I was starting to think they’d finally convinced you to stay in Asgard.” Jane said, pulling away.

“No,” Thor said. For a second his smile faltered. “It may be a long time before I return to Asgard.” Jane started to say something, when she saw Fenrir.

“Oh. I’m sorry; I didn’t know you brought someone with you,” Jane said, her cheeks beginning to turn red.

“Fenris,” Thor called over his shoulder. Fenrir walked a few steps and let Thor pull him the rest of the way forward. “This is the Lady Jane.” Thor said, beaming at her. “One of the wisest women in this realm. She is my dearest companion on Midgard.”

Jane smiled at Thor and reached out to shake Fenrir’s hand. Fenrir flinched backwards. 

“Jane, I would like to present my nephew, Fenrir,” Thor said. This time it was Jane’s turn to flinch. 

“Nephew? Then that would make him…?” Jane didn’t want to finish. 

“He is Loki’s son,” Thor said.

“Oh. Loki’s son,” Jane said, stunned. “Okay, so he’s, um, what’s he doing here?”

“He has come to stay with me,” Thor explained.

“Stay here?” Jane asked. “Why? Since when does Loki even have kids?”

“Much has happened since I left, and I promise that I will explain everything. But first I must ask you for a favor.” Thor said. Jane waited for him to finish. “I must return to New York, to speak with my fellow Avengers. I need to explain what happened on Asgard and convince them that it is safe to allow Fenrir to live at the tower. Until I do this I don’t think he can remain with me. Jane, there is no one I would trust more to look after him while I am gone.” The shock following Thor’s announcement was felt on all sides. 

“What?!” Fenrir gasped.

“I don’t understand,” Jane said. She couldn’t believe what Thor was telling her. There was no way Thor was asking her to take care of Loki’s son.

“I thought I was staying with you. You said I was staying with you,” Fenrir said, the panic showing through in his voice.

“You will come with me,” Thor insisted, reaching out a hand to comfort his nephew. “This is only for a short time.”

“Thor, I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Jane said, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“It’s not,” Fenrir added.

“Please,” Thor said to both of them. “If I bring Fenrir with me now then I fear that all the other Avengers will see is Loki. I need a chance to explain. To bring him there before I do could make things…difficult.”

“Thor you can’t just dump your nephew here. I don’t even know him,” Jane said.

“Jane, I promise you that Fenrir will bring no harm to anyone,” Thor said.

“That’s not what I’m worried about. Although it does worry me a little that that was the first place your mind went to.” Jane said with a look toward Fenrir.

“What’s wrong with assuring you that Fenrir is not dangerous?” Thor asked.

“Thor…” Jane began. 

“Please, Jane,” Thor said, looking distressed. “You are the only person I can trust to do this.”

Jane’s first impulse was to say no. To refuse to let anything connected with Loki anywhere near her or her home. Thor always wanted to see the good in people he loved, even when it wasn’t there. She couldn’t take the risk that Loki’s son was more dangerous than Thor wanted to believe. She was all ready to say this to Thor. That’s why she was so surprised when she heard herself say “okay”. 

“Thank you, Jane.” Thor said. “I promise you that I will be back in a day.”

“And you’re sure he’s… you’re sure.” She whispered, with a look toward Fenrir.

“He’s been through much, but he’s a good boy,” Thor said earnestly. He then turned his eyes toward his nephew and saw that he’d lost what little color he’d had. Thor quickly went over and tried to reassure him. “I will be back soon.”

“Just let me come now.” Fenrir pleaded. Thor looked sadly at his nephew.

“I will come back as quickly as I can,” Thor said, putting a hand on Fenrir’s shoulder. “Trust, Jane. She will not let you come to harm.” And with that, Thor quickly loaded the chest into Jane’s van, took one last look at them both, spun his hammer and took off. Leaving Fenrir and Jane standing alone in the dessert.

“I guess you’re coming home with me.” Jane said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, we're out of Asgard! Now if Thor can just convince the Avengers to embrace Fenrir then everything will be great. And I'm sure that there will be no more problems in their way....  
> 


	9. Chapter 9

“So let me see if I’ve got all of this straight.” Tony said, rubbing his face with his hand. “You went back to Asgard for some family time and discovered your not dead nephew. You blackmailed his jailer into letting you take him home with you and found out that Odin is a pretty sucky grandpa. You then decided that the best place you could bring Loki’s son is a home full of his father’s greatest enemies. Did I miss anything?”

“I actually found him when I was on Svartalfheim.” Thor said.

“Well that changes everything.” Bruce muttered.

“Thor, you can’t honestly think that bringing Loki’s son to live here is a good idea.” Natasha said. 

“I understand that the situation is not ideal.” Thor said.

“I really don’t think you do.” Clint said. In the hours since Thor had started his petition, Clint hadn’t moved from his seat in the corner. Just the mention of Loki had left him itching to go out and shoot something. 

“Thor, I’m sure you’re excited to have your nephew back, but even you have to see how dangerous it would be to have him living here.” Steve said. “Even if his magic is bound.” He added when he saw Thor about to argue.

“He’s no danger to anyone. I swear to you that Fenrir is a good person.” Thor insisted.

“But he was a danger to someone.” Fury stood up from his seat at the head of the table, where he’d been mostly silent since Thor had begun his story. “You said that he was punished more than his crime deserved, but you always seem to leave out what exactly his crime was. You say that Odin agreed that years of torture was a valid punishment. So I’m wondering what could have been bad enough that he would toss his grandson to the wolves.” Thor flinched at Fury’s choice of words.

“He didn’t understand what he did. He was only a child.” Thor said, sadly.

“So you’ve said. What did he do?” Fury demanded.

“Fenrir was always a clever child.” Thor began. “Like Loki he showed an early aptitude for magic. But where my brother gained his skill through years of study, everything just came to Fenrir. Most notable of his skills was a natural ability to shape shift. As a young child he could summon the form of a great wolf as easily as I call Mjolnir. 

“We were on a visit to Svartalfheim. Back when they were our allies. Loki brought Fenrir, but he became bored with all the talk and he left us to join a group of children playing nearby.” At this Thor became quiet. The memory wasn’t a pleasant one.

“What’d he do to the kids?” Bruce asked.

“He only wished to show off his abilities. He changed into a wolf. One of the children was frightened and threw a rock at him. Fenrir fought back. I know that what he did was terrible, but he didn’t—”

“What happened to the kids?” Steve asked.

“Come on, Steve; don’t make him spell it out. Jr. threw a temper tantrum and killed his friends. Right, Thor?” Clint asked. Thor simply hung his head. “So how many did he kill?”

“He didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He couldn’t have.” Thor insisted.

“How many?” Clint repeated.

“Nine.” Thor said. “But he was only a child-”  
“That makes it worse!” Clint yelled. “If he could do that as a kid then what’s a few thousand years and some abuse going to produce?”

“I’m sorry, Thor, but he’s got a point.” Steve said.

“Then that is your decision? You won’t let me bring him here?” Thor asked.

“I think I can safely speak for the entire planet, when I say no.” Fury said.

“Then I am sorry to say that I must leave the Avengers.” Thor said.

“Oh, come on! Don’t be ridiculous.” Clint said.

“Thor, you can’t just quit.” Bruce said.

“I have sworn an oath to my nephew that I would keep him safe. I can’t do that if I’m here and he’s not.” Thor said.

“You’re being a little dramatic aren’t you?” Natasha said. “Do you really expect us to believe that you’d leave the team over this?”

“I swore to Fenrir that I would not let him be imprisoned again.” Thor said. “The only way that can happen is if he comes to live with me. If he’s not welcome here than I’ll have to find someplace else.”

“How about the promise that you made to us?” Clint said. “Remember when we formed the Avengers and you swore to stand by us whenever we needed you.”

“It pains me to break an oath to my team but he is my family.” Thor explained.

“Since when?” Tony asked, with a groan. “You’ve never even mentioned him until today. Hell, did you even know you had a nephew before this?”

“Fenrir’s death was a painful memory and one I did not like to recall so, it is true that, I did not speak of him. But you would be wrong to read into my silence a lack of affection.” Thor said. 

“We need you on the team.” Tony insisted. “You’re half our fire power. Can’t you just find Fido, a baby sitter and visit him on the weekends?”

“There is no one on Midgard that I could ask to take on that responsibility.” Thor said.

“So leave him on Asgard.” Clint said.

“I told you, he was banished.” Thor said.

“Thor,” Fury said, as an unpleasant realization began to hit him “you said that the deal was that Fenrir would get released if he could stay with you on Earth. Where is your nephew right now, and please, tell me that it’s in a cell on Asgard waiting for our answer.”

“I couldn’t just make him wait in the dungeons.” Thor said. “He left Asgard when I did.”

“So he’s, what, been waiting for you at Starbucks?” Tony asked.

“I wouldn’t just leave him alone like that.” Thor said.

“Thor.” Steve said, slowly. “Where exactly is your nephew right now?”

“I left him with Jane.” This announcement was met with a moment of stunned silence followed by pandemonium.

“You’re telling me that you left Loki’s murderous son unguarded in New Mexico?” Fury demanded.

“Not unguarded. He’s with Jane.” Fury ignored Thor’s reassurance and pulled out his comm. 

“I need all available agents in the South West sector to move to Puente Antigua. We have a potentially lethal situation brewing.” Thor immediately began arguing with Fury and the rest of the team joining in. All except for Bruce who couldn’t stop thinking about time. Like how much time they had all spent listening to Thor explain his situation, or how long it had taken for Tony to get everyone together when Thor had requested a meeting. Or how long Thor had been waiting alone in the tower because Tony was on a date with Pepper.

“Thor, when did you get back?” Bruce asked.

“I landed early, Monday morning.” Thor answered. Once again the room went silent.

“He’s been here two days?” Steve asked.

“I hadn’t thought that our discussions would take so long.” Thor said. Fury was about to grab his comm again when Steve jumped in. 

“Tony, go with Thor to New Mexico and grab Fenrir. We’ll keep him here in one of Bruce’s panic rooms until we can work something out. We can debate the rest later.” Steve said.  
Tony and Thor left the room and Steve turned to address the rest of the team.

“The rest of you suit up. God only knows what those two are bringing back.”

 

&&&&&

 

Tony couldn’t help but be a little proud of himself. Flying from New York to New Mexico in twenty five minutes was a new record for him. Clearly rerouting the thrusters had been another stroke of genius. He wished he could tell someone but the only other person in the sky was Thor, and he never seemed to see the beauty in suit technology. It was one of the great tragedies Tony had seen of being raised in a world of magic. 

“Hey, Point Break, which one of these is your girlfriend’s?” Tony asked, when he saw Thor beginning to descend. Thor pointed at what looked like an old gas station and they landed. Immediately a dark haired girl came running out of the building.

“Where the hell were you? Jane said you were only supposed to be gone a day.” Darcy yelled, tossing a textbook at Thor’s chest.

“Thor forgot to mention a few things. Is everything ok here?” Tony asked, quickly scanning the area for signs of carnage.

“Sure, I mean, it isn’t like we really needed a kitchen.” Darcy said, with another glare towards Thor.

“Is Fenris alright?” Thor asked.

“I honestly have no idea.” Darcy said. “Psycho boy locked himself in Jane’s trailer yesterday and hasn’t come out since.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to make up for the wait on the last one. Next chapter is already counting in at 12 pages so that should make up for it.  
> 


	10. Chapter 10

Two days earlier:

“I guess you’re coming home with me,” Jane said. Fenrir stared at her for a moment, like he was about to say something, and then looked down at the sand in defeat. Clearly he wasn’t any more excited about their arrangement than she was. She sighed and headed back to her van.

As it turned out, getting Fenrir home was no easy feat. He’d never seen, much less ridden, in a car before. He’d stood outside the van for five minutes, just staring before Jane realized what the problem was and opened his door for him. Once inside he continued to stare at her equipment with confusion. 

She’d never gone through any of this with Thor. He’d been just as unfamiliar with Earth technology but he’d just always taken it in stride. 

“Is this where you live?” Fenrir asked.

“No this is just transportation,” Jane said. Fenrir continued looking around. Jane began the drive back and noticed that, despite her slow speed, Fenrir was gripping the sides of his seat like he was about to be thrown off. “So, you’re Thor’s nephew?” Jane said, desperate to break the silence. 

Fenrir only gave her a quick glance before turning his wide eyed gaze back to the road in front of them. He made a grunt that seemed to be a yes, so Jane decided to try again. 

“Thor’s never really mentioned you before. Are you two close?” She asked.

“Until very recently he thought I was dead; but yes, once we were very close,” He said.

“What do you mean, he thought you were dead?”

“My family was fooled into thinking I had been killed, when I was really taken to Svartalfheim. That is where my uncle found me.”

“What were you doing there?”

“I was being punished,” Jane wanted to ask a lot more follow up question to that but as soon as she opened her mouth Fenrir spoke. “How far away is your home?”

Much as Jane wanted answers, she recognized the change of topic for what it was.

“We’re almost there. Just a few more minutes,” She said, turning onto the street that led to the lab. As she pulled up to the building she saw Darcy’s car was already there. Jane hoped that Darcy had remembered to pick up the groceries like she’d said she would. Loki had threatened to kill her more than once and starving his son could only hurt the situation. 

Suddenly a thought occurred to Jane. Darcy and Erik!! How in the world was she supposed to explain her new houseguest to them? She couldn’t believe that the thought hadn’t occurred to her until now. She parked her car and tried to quickly think of an explanation for Fenrir that was better than “You try saying no to Thor”. 

Fenrir seemed to realize that something was wrong and, now that the car wasn’t moving anymore, he began to get nervous. 

“All right, so I live with these two people,” Jane began. “I work with them. Well I really just work with Erik, Darcy is more of an intern and- . They’re nice, friends of your uncle’s.” Jane knew that she was babbling. She hated this, she hardly ever babbled. “The thing is that your father isn’t too popular here. There was actually an incident with him and Erik a few years ago. So you-”

“So I am no safer here than I was on Asgard,” Fenrir said, looking dejected.

“What?! No! You’re safe. No one will hurt you. It will be uncomfortable as sin but, you know what, let’s just go inside and get this part over with,” Jane said, hopping out. Once again she had to open the door for him.

Darcy was on them the second they came through the front door. 

“Erik texted me and said that you’d gone out to the landing sight. Does this mean that Zeus is back from his vacation or… Hello,” Darcy said, smiling when she got a look at Fenrir. “You’re not Thor.”

“Darcy, this is Fenrir. Thor asked me to look after him for a little while,” Jane said, purposely leaving out a few key details. If she was lucky then maybe Thor would get back before she needed to explain everything. 

“How do you manage to find all the hot aliens? I’m definitely calling dibs on this one,” Darcy said, eyeing Fenrir. 

“Dibs?” Fenrir said quietly. Clearly listening to Darcy was making him uneasy. 

“You said Thor wanted you to look after him? You can just leave that to me. I mean, I practically paid for my entire high school social life with babysitting money. I’ll make sure he’s taken care of,” Darcy said, taking a step toward Fenrir. 

“Darcy,” Jane snapped.

“What?”

“Back off a little.”

“Oh, whatever,” Darcy said going over to the table where bags of groceries were sitting. Jane sighed.

“Where’s Erik?”

“Checking the monitors for the readings form your boyfriends landing,” Darcy said, putting a box of cereal into a cabinet. 

“Could you go get him?”

“I could give Fenrir a tour of the lab, if you need to go talk to Erik,” Darcy said.

“Just go get Erik.” 

“Fine,” Darcy said, leaving the room with a pout. Jane let out an exhausted sigh and noticed that, since entering the house, Fenrir had begun to look increasingly green.

“Sorry about Darcy. I know she can come on a little strong sometimes,” Jane said. “She’s actually nice once you get used to her.” Fenrir gave a halfhearted nod but didn’t raise his eyes from where they seemed to be glued to the floor.

Five minutes later Darcy was back with Erik following close behind her. Darcy went over to the table and flopped into a chair but Erik seemed glued to the doorway.

“So you’re from Asgard too?” Darcy asked.

“Originally,” Fenrir whispered. 

“So you’re like, what, Thor’s apprentice?” Darcy asked. Fenrir muttered a no that was practically silent. 

“Actually he’s a relative of Thor’s.” Jane said, praying that no one would ask any follow up questions. 

“Are you one of his secret love children?” Darcy joked.

“He’s Loki’s son,” Erik stated, breaking his silence. Jane couldn’t believe this. 

“Seriously?” Darcy gasped.

“How did you know that?” Jane asked.

“Family resemblance; I’d know those eyes anywhere,” Erik said, unable to tear his eyes off of Fenrir. “What in the world is he doing here?”

“He came with Thor.”

“Speaking of tall, blond and godly; where is Thor?” Darcy asked, seeming to notice for the first time that Jane and Fenrir were alone.

“Thor’s in New York. And he won’t be back until tomorrow.” Jane admitted. “I told him he could stay here.”

“Oh, Thor,” Erik groaned. “So should we be expecting a visit from Loki soon?” 

“Thor didn’t say anything about that,” Of course, Jane thought, Thor hadn’t told her much of anything before he’d flown off. Erik merely rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like a repeat of ‘Oh, Thor’.

“I don’t know if I’ll be getting a lot of work done today,” Jane continued. “So if you want to head home-”

“Oh no I think I’ll stick around,” Erik said.

“Me too,” Darcy added. 

“Didn’t you say you had a date, later?” Jane asked.

“Are you kidding? This is way more interesting than making small talk with a psych major.” Darcy said.

Jane couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Leave it to Darcy to find something like this entertaining. 

“So, Fenrir, are you hungry?” Jane asked, desperate to get everyones mind on something else. 

Fenrir looked over at Erik and studied him for a minute before turning back to Jane and nodding. 

“Me too. I skipped breakfast this morning.” Jane said. She went over to the fridge to see what they had and noticed that Fenrir was following closely behind her. “Do you like eggs?” Jane asked. He nodded again. She grabbed the carton from the fridge and went over to the stove.

“So what are you doing here?” Darcy asked. 

“Darcy,” Jane said.

“I think I’d like to know too,” Erik said, sitting next to Darcy at the table, and giving Fenrir the same analytical stare that he’d just gotten. Jane was about to answer the question herself when she remembered that she had no idea. 

“I’ve come to live with my uncle,” Fenrir said.

“Do the Avengers know about that?” Erik asked, with surprise.

“I think that’s what Thor’s doing now.” Jane explained, as she began mixing eggs.

“So are you going to fight crime too now?” Darcy asked.

“I don’t think so,” Fenrir said, shifting his stance so he could be blocked by Jane.

“Hey, can you fly?” Darcy asked, moving her chair along with him.

“Darcy, enough questions.” Jane said.

“What? His uncle can fly; I just want to know what we can look forward to.”

“I, I can’t fly.” Fenrir muttered, wrapping his arms as tightly around himself as he could.

“So, Erik, did you get the readings on Thor’s landing?” Jane asked. She was relieved when Erik began talking about physics. That was something she could handle. They continued to talk about what his machines picked up as she began frying the eggs. 

“I think I might have finally found the stabilizing factor for the Bifrost’s point of origin.” Erik said. This stopped Jane in her tracks. 

“No?” Jane said. This was what they’d been working on for the past five months. “I thought the equipment couldn’t get a clear reading when the bridge was open.”

“I’ve been making some modifications. It’s too soon to be sure but I think we might have had a breakthrough.” He said. This was too much to take in. She had to see these readings. 

“Darcy, watch the eggs for me,” Jane said, and bolted out of the kitchen into the main lab with Erik. Once she got there she was disappointed to find out that there was no breakthrough. 

“Now tell me what’s really going on,” Erik ordered, once he’d gotten Jane alone.

“I told you, I promised Thor that he could stay here,” Jane said again.

“If he’s here to live with Thor then why didn’t Thor take him along?” 

“He said that he needed to explain things to the other Avengers before he brought Fenrir there.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Erik said, glancing warily at the hallway to the kitchen.

“You know that Thor wouldn’t have left him here if he was dangerous,” Jane said.

“I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about whoever it is that Thor is trying to get him away from,” Erik explained. 

“He’s not-” Jane was interupted when they heard a smash and a scream coming from the kitchen. They both ran.

“Darcy, are you ok?” Erik asked running up to her. 

“This was not my fault,” She said. 

“What happened?” Jane asked, when she saw Fenrir sitting on the floor in front of the smashed remains of their counter.

“I asked him to grab the frying pan while I got some plates. I didn’t think he’d actually try and grab the pan,” Darcy explained. Jane looked back at Fenrir. This explained why he was holding his arm to his chest like it was about to fall off.

“Go get the first aid kit,” Jane ordered, while she rushed to the freezer to get ice and quickly filled a towel with ice cubes. 

“What happened to the counter?” Erik asked.

“He threw the frying pan at it,” Darcy explained, rummaging through the cabinets trying to find where she’d left the kit. Jane brought the ice over to Fenrir and sat down in front of him. 

“Show me your hand,” She said reaching forward. Fenrir slammed into the wall behind him like he was about to be burned again. “I need to see your hand.” She said. 

Reluctantly he held out his arm. She was relieved to see that the burn wasn’t too bad. Darcy finally came over with the first aid kit and Jane put some cream on the worst of it. 

“Hold on to this.” Jane said, offering up the towel of ice. The response was immediate; with Fenrir sighing like all the pain in the world was gone. 

“Thank you,” He said. Jane suddenly realized that this was the first time that Fenrir had made eye contact with her. 

“You’re welcome,” She replied. 

“So I’m thinking cereal would be a good alternative since I think he broke the stove too,” Darcy said. Fenrir turned around and realized the damage that he’d caused. Suddenly his eyes got huge.

“I’m sorry,” He said, snapping around to look back at Jane. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Jane said. “So…cereal?”

 

&&&&&

 

Thankfully the rest of the afternoon was uneventful. They’d cleaned up the kitchen and she’d given Fenrir a tour of the lab. He’d then sat there like a statue while she’d checked the results that the equipment had actually given when Thor had landed. It was awkward but, after the morning she’d had, it was definitely an improvement. 

Jane was relieved to see that Fenrir was grateful for the change too. He had in fact taken a book out of his coat and seemed content to sit and read while she worked. He’d even relaxed to the point that he only seemed to tense up when her or Erik got up, as opposed to every time that someone moved. Meanwhile Darcy had left to do whatever it was she did when Jane and Erik were working.

“You all are going to love me” Darcy said when she returned. “While you guys were trying to figure out the weight of gravity, or whatever it is you do, I solved our dinner problem.”

“What problem?” Jane asked.

“The one where we no longer have a kitchen,” Darcy said. “Plus I figured we should do something nice for Fenrir’s first night on Earth. Make up for the whole, me making him touch hot metal…thing.” She finished, looking briefly guilty.

“So you got pizza?” Jane asked.

“Please. The pizza in this town sucks. I got steaks. I figured we could grill,” She said, before turning to Fenrir. “By the way the first rule of grilling safety is that if it’s on fire, don’t touch it.” Jane thanked her and began finishing up for the day.

Luckily there was an old picnic table outside that they could use since no one wanted to repeat the experience of eating in the remains of plywood and plaster. While Erik grilled up, and Darcy contributed a running commentary on how they should be cooked, Jane decided to show Fenrir her trailer.

“I thought the other building was your home,” Fenrir said, once they were inside.

“The lab is more of a group space. It’s mostly for work but this is where I live,” Jane explained. “I sleep on the roof most nights so I figured, if Thor isn’t back in time, you can take the bed.”

“That’s not necessary.” 

“It’s not a problem. I’m sorry it’s not bigger.” She said, looking around at the small quarters.

“This is fine.” He said. “You’ve been more than generous.”

“This must seem pretty different compared to what you’re used to on Asgard,” Before Fenrir could reply there was a smacking sound on the door. 

“Dinner’s ready,” Darcy called. By the time they got to the table Darcy and Erik had already started. They were seated at either end of the table; Jane took the seat by Erik which left Fenrir with Darcy.

Sadly, despite better food, the dinner conversation was as awkward as ever. There was twenty minutes of forced small talk directed mainly by Darcy. The only difference between this and lunch was that Fenrir seemed especially fidgety. It seemed to Jane like every minute or so Fenrir was pulling to the side or jumping a little. Jane looked over to Erik and saw she wasn’t the only one to notice the behavior. 

“So is this the kind of thing you eat on Asgard?” Darcy asked.

“The meat is similar, but I don’t think we have this animal,” Fenrir said. “My uncle must love it though.”

“What makes you think that?” Jane asked.

“It’s meat,” Fenrir stated, matter of factly.

“Oh, my god, Fenrir, did you just make a joke?” Darcy asked. Fenrir kept his eyes on his plate but wasn’t able to quite suppress a slight smirk. “I’m so proud of you.” Darcy said, giving him a quick one armed hug. Immediately the smile was gone and Fenrir looked like he was going to be sick long after she took her hand away. 

“Actually, Thor will eat pretty much anything we give him,” Jane said. “I think the only thing he hasn’t liked so far was tofu.” 

“Which makes sense because it isn’t really a food; it’s mush pretending to be food,” Darcy added. The meal then turned to Thor stories, which seemed to be a safer topic for everyone. A few of the tales even brought brief smiles to Fenrir’s face. Things finally seemed to be going smoothly. 

“I had to explain to him that just because it was ok in Asgard, didn’t mean that it was a good idea to walk around town without a shirt,” Jane said. 

“Is that not allowed here?” Fenrir asked.

“No, in fact when you look like Thor it’s encouraged,” Darcy said. “Jane just got jealous because of all the girls drooling over her boyfriend,” 

“I wasn’t jealous. I just thought it was a poor use of our time to stop every five minutes so high school girls could pretend to trip into him,” Jane said.

“Not just the girls,” Erik muttered.

“It took us almost two hours to pick up a carton of milk!” Jane complained.

“Jealous,” Darcy whispered to Fenrir in a singsong voice. 

Jane continued to deny that she was, or ever had been, jealous but her case wasn’t helped by the fact that her face kept getting redder. Erik and Darcy laughed and even Fenrir couldn’t resist a small chuckle. Then Erik reached across the table to grab some steak sauce and Fenrir shot out of his seat and nearly flipped the table over. 

“I didn’t, I’m sorry,” Fenrir said quickly once they’d managed to get the table settled. Then, after looking at the table and the mess of plates and food on the ground, he turned and ran. Jane and Erik both jumped up to go after him, but stopped when they saw Fenrir turn and dive into Jane’s trailer.

“What are the odds he just really had to use the bathroom?” Darcy said, as they all stared at the trailer. Jane just groaned at her and headed for the trailer.

“Jane, maybe you should wait a while before going in there,” Erik said. Jane ignored him and kept walking.

She found Fenrir sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall, and his knees pulled up against his chest. He was shaking his head and, for a minute, Jane wasn’t even sure if he knew that she’d come in. 

“Are you ok?” Jane asked.

“I’m sorry,” Fenrir said. “I didn’t mean to upset your meal.”

“What happened?” Jane asked.

“I made a mess. I’m sorry.”

“No, Fenrir, I meant why are you upset? You seemed alright and then all of a sudden you just ran.”

“I thought that your friend was…that he was going, I thought he was going to hurt me.” Fenrir said, looking ashamed. “When I saw him reach across the table I…reacted.”

“He was just getting sauce.” Jane said, trying to sound reassuring.

“I know that.” Fenrir admitted, placing his head on his knees. “I’m a coward. Thor should have warned you about that before he left me here.”

“Are you going to be ok? Do you want some water?” Fenrir turned to look at Jane. “I’m sorry; I never really know what to do when people are upset.”

“I’ll be fine.” Fenrir said. “Could I…” Fenrir stopped himself mid request. Jane simply waited for him to finish. “Would it be alright if I stayed in here for a while?”

“Sure.” Jane saw him relax a little and decided to keep trying. “Would you like to be alone for a while?” Fenrir seemed unsure of how he should answer for a moment before nodding. “I’ll give you some privacy then.” She said, heading for the door. 

“You’re nice.” Fenrir said. Jane turned to see him looking at her. “I can see why my uncle cares for you.” He said before lowering his eyes back to the floor.

 

&&&&&

 

Luckily the night was uneventful. By the next morning Jane was beginning to wish that Thor had been more specific with his return time. Every ten minutes or so she found herself searching the sky for a flash of a red cape. The sky seemed to be mocking her by being a beautifully clear and cloudless blue. Aside from a meal drop at breakfast she’d been trying to leave Fenrir alone. He seemed to be less nervous by himself in the trailer so Jane decided to let him have his solitude. Although she had thought it was strange when she’d come inside in the morning and found out that he’d slept beside her bed instead of on it. 

She needed to talk to Thor. Not only about dropping off guests and leaving, or his failure to stick to a schedule, although those items would certainly be brought up in their own time. What she really needed to talk to Thor about was Fenrir. Thor had said that Fenris had been through a lot, and the fact that Thor thought he needed a sanctuary on Earth clearly meant things hadn’t been good, but she needed to know what. Fenrir seemed to think that everyone he met was about to hurt him and he was so grateful for any show of kindness given to him that Jane was starting to think he hadn’t seen that kind of treatment in a long time. The more Jane saw of Fenrir, the more she needed to know what had happened to him.

Lunch came and went and there was still no sign of Thor. Even Darcy had started scanning the sky with binoculars in hopes of spotting him.

“Have you tried calling him?” Darcy asked, coming in from her most recent Thor watch. 

“A dozen times,” Jane admitted. “It’s not even ringing, and all I’m getting at the Tower is Jarvis. He says Thor got there, but that’s all he’ll say.”

“You said he was going to be back in a day. Even if he’s counting all twenty-four hours he’s missed his deadline by, like, a lot,” Darcy said.

“We’ve noticed,” Erik said.

“Well what’s the plan here? We can’t just leave him in your trailer forever,” Darcy said. 

“Don’t you have a test to study for?” Erik snapped. For once Darcy took the hint and left the room.

“I’m going to try calling the Tower again,” Jane said, standing up. It would be another four hours until Darcy spotted Thor out the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not really sure about this chapter, but I wanted to get it out so I could move on to Fenrir and the Avengers. Let me know what you thought.  
> 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're finally at Avengers Tower.

“I honestly have no idea,” Darcy said. “Psycho boy locked himself in Jane’s trailer yesterday and hasn’t come out since.” Darcy’s words had an immediate effect on Thor, and he quickly made a beeline for the trailer.

“So what happened to the kitchen?” Tony asked, taking off his helmet as Thor ran past.

Thor burst into the trailer, and Fenrir sat up from his position on the floor. Once he saw that it was Thor he shot up and ran over. 

“Thor!” Fenrir said, as he wrapped his arms around his uncle. “You’re back.” 

“I’m sorry for the delay,” Thor said, hugging him back. “My talk with the Avengers took longer than I foresaw.”

“I thought you’d left me here,” Fenrir admitted, letting go and stepping backward. 

“Have you been alright? Darcy said something about the kitchen,” Thor asked. Fenrir looked down ashamed. 

“There was an accident. I’m afraid I damaged your friend’s home,” Fenrir confessed.

“Was anyone hurt?” Thor asked.

“No. I mean…” Fenrir hesitated before showing his uncle his burned hand. Thor immediately jerked him forward so that he could get a better look. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. Jane gave me ice.” Fenrir insisted, and Thor smiled at the mention of Jane.

“I don’t imagine she’s very happy with me right now,” Thor said. “I should go and apologize to her for my lateness. Then, if you’re ready, we can go.” Fenrir was more than ready and he quickly followed Thor out and to the lab. Jane and Erik had joined Darcy and Tony on the lawn.

“I’ll have someone come out tomorrow and remodel the whole thing for you,” Tony said to Jane. “Seriously, granite, tile, whatever you want.”

“Thor,” Jane said, walking over to him.

“I’m sorry I was gone for so long,” Thor said.

“Why didn’t you call?” Jane demanded.

“I seem to have left my phone on Asgard,” Thor admitted, avoiding eye contact. 

“We have a lot to talk about,” Jane said.

“That will have to wait until next time. Sorry, lovebirds, but I need to get these two back to the tower.” Tony said. 

“Fenris, this is my teammate, Tony Stark.” Thor said. Tony turned and gave Fenrir a quick once over. 

“I thought you’d have a mustache. Not sure why.” Tony said. Before Fenrir had a chance to figure out what a comment like that could possibly mean, Thor had grabbed him around the waist and taken off. 

 

&&&&&

 

Once again the flight was over in less than a half hour and when they landed, Tony wondered if it would be worthwhile to try and transfer the new fuel tech to his private jet. This daydream was interrupted when he heard someone retching behind him. He turned around to see the very unattractive sight of an alien puking on his roof.

“So, not a fan of heights?” Tony asked. Thor gave Tony a look before kneeling down to check on Fenrir. 

“Are you all right?” Thor asked. Fenrir began to answer before throwing up again. Once he’d emptied his stomach he stood up. 

“Stark, what’s going on up there?” Steve asked through Tony’s intercom.

“I’m telling him government secrets. We’ll be down in a minute.” Tony said. He waited for his armor to finish disassembling around him before turning to Thor. “You two ready to go inside?” Fenrir nodded to his uncle and they went in. Tony sent the elevator to the 25th floor and waited, and waited…and… Tony quickly began to hate who ever had invented uncomfortable elevator music and decided that his next project would be to create an instant elevator so he’d never have to go through this again. 

When they finally got to Bruce’s ‘happy floor’, Tony had to quick make a decision of where to stash their new houseguest/hostage. There were three rooms set up for Bruce to go when he was in danger of hulking out, and each of them had been designed with the same security to contain the Hulk. The interiors were definitely not the same.

Room A was filled with furniture, mostly wooden, for when Hulk needed to smash his frustrations away. Room A was where Bruce tended to go when he knew a Hulking was imminent and needed to release some rage. Room B was a completely empty cell that pumped calming music and aromatherapy. This was where Bruce went when he was feeling on edge but thought that there might still be a chance of gaining control and going back about his work. 

And of course there was the evil room. Or at least that was how Tony had always thought of it. The third room, Room C, was filled with bright pastel colors and giant stuffed animals, with the thought that ‘maybe the Hulk just needs to get in touch with his inner child’. Tony couldn’t stand the room and had yet to go inside without cringing. So far, Bruce had never felt the need to test it out when he was on edge. 

Still, Room C did seem the least cell like, so that was the one Tony led Fenrir to. The sight when he opened the door was the same as it always was and, like always, it made Tony shudder. Too much cute. 

“We need to talk to your uncle for a while, so you can wait here,” Tony said, motioning toward the door. Fenrir walked inside and looked warily at his surroundings. “Just make yourself comfortable and we’ll be back before you know it.” Thor asked Fenrir if there was anything he needed before he left. Fenrir said no and Thor headed out the door. Tony was following him out when he heard Fenrir say, under his breath.

“I’m always waiting.”

Tony thought about saying something to Thor but decided against it. Dealing with family drama wasn’t exactly his specialty. He was more an expert on what drinks to prescribe to someone who wanted to wipe out all memory of parents. When they got to the meeting room on the 18th floor he saw that everyone else had suited up. 

“Did I miss something?” He asked, taking his seat.

“We just wanted to be prepared,” Steve explained.

“Did you have any problems retrieving your target?” Fury asked. Thor seemed unhappy with the description, but didn’t say anything. 

“Aside from the fact that I’m going to have to have my roof power washed, no,” Tony said. “So where did we leave off? I think Thor was about to quit the team, Fury was instituting a no houseguest rule and Cap wanted to stab me in the eye with his pen.”

“I never said that,” Steve said.

“I’m going by body language,” Tony explained. “So did everyone work out their problems while we were gone?” Everyone looked at Thor. “I guess that’s a no.”

“I contacted a few higher ups while you both were away,” Fury said. “They’d be willing to let your nephew stay on Earth in S.H.I.E.L.D custody. If he’s contained then-”

“No,” Thor interrupted. “If I wanted him in a cell then I could have left him on Asgard.”

“You have to meet us halfway on this,” Natasha said. 

“Or we could just give him a room and save ourselves the time,” Tony said. Everyone in the room stared at Tony in disbelief, except for Thor who didn’t bother to hide his grin. “We can spend the next few hours arguing about this but it’s all going to come down to the same thing. Thor says he’s leaving if we don’t let him stay, and we can’t have the team without him. Even with me on the team, we can’t lose that much fire power. Not with Doom, Thanos and, let’s be honest, Loki trying to destroy us every other week.”

“You really want this guy living in the tower with us?” Clint asked. “You did hear the part of the story where he killed nine kids, right?”

“Jarvis, pull up a visual of Panic Room C,” Tony said. Immediately a screen materialized in the center of the room and showed Fenrir. He was standing next to a giant, pink stuffed bear and seemed to be trying to figure out what possible purpose something like that could serve. “Terrifying as he seems I think I’ll be able to sleep at night.”

“This is probably one of the most secure places to have him,” Bruce reasoned. “Jarvis has constant surveillance on everyone and if he even begins to act suspicious then we’re all here to stop him.” 

“You’re on his side?” Clint said.

“I just think it makes the most sense,” Bruce said. 

“No, handing him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. makes sense. This is insanity,” Clint said.

“Well it’s my house and it’s my rules. I say we let him stay,” Tony said. “Anyone who doesn’t like it can start paying rent.”

“Stark,” Fury began.

“My house,” Tony repeated.

“Thank you,” Thor said earnestly.

“No, no, no, we haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Clint insisted.

“God help us, I think we have,” Steve groaned.

 

&&&&&&

 

“That’s your uncle’s room on the left and over here is your room,” Tony said, leading Thor and Fenrir down the hallway. “So far Thor’s used it when he has visitors from Asgard, so don’t be surprised if you find some leftover chainmail in the closet.” Tony said letting himself into the bedroom. “We have reinforced furniture, full length mirrors, and an in suite bathroom with an old fashioned tub that all you Asgardians seem to like so much. All the comforts of Medieval fairy land, without having to leave the planet.” Tony waited for a response while Fenrir eyed the room. He quickly saw that he wasn’t going to get one. “Thank you, Tony, for giving me this incredibly comfortable room, and for opening up your home to me.” Tony prompted.

“Thank you,” Fenrir said quickly. 

“Yes, thank you,” Thor added. “You have shown yourself to be a most faithful friend.” 

“I’m pretty incredible that way,” Tony agreed. “Well, I’ll let you two have some family time and go see what threats Fury has in store for me. Personally I’m hoping for bamboo shoots but no one ever appreciates the classics anymore.” Tony offered one last salute before he left the room. Fenrir stared at the door for a while after he left.

“Your friend is, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him,” Fenris said, still staring at the door where Tony had just left. 

“The people of Midgard live very differently from us. However even they seem to find Stark to be rather unique,” Thor explained. 

“Oh,” Fenrir said, looking around the room.

“My companion, Volstagg, once stayed in this room. I don’t believe he had any complaints. And you’ll be very close to my room if you need anything,” Thor said. “Later I can show you the rest of the Tower. I think there might even be a library on the 33rd floor.” Fenrir saw how hard his uncle was trying and forced a smile.

“I’m sure I’ll be very comfortable here,” Fenrir said. This was more than enough for Thor.

“Of course you will be,” Thor said, throwing an arm around Fenrir’s shoulders. “I’m sorry that I had to leave you alone for so long, but that is all done now. You’re home.” Fenrir wished that he could join in his uncle’s enthusiasm; he really did, but he couldn’t help but think that the last time Thor had promised him a home he’d ended up in a dungeon on Asgard.

“I look forward to introducing you to the rest of the Avengers.” Thor said. “Would you like to join us for dinner tonight?”

Fenrir’s mind flashed back to the last dinner he’d attended, making a fool of himself in front of his uncle’s friends. Flinching at every touch from Darcy and ruining a meal simply because someone bigger than he was had reached in his direction. 

“I think I’d rather stay in here, if that’s all right,” Fenrir admitted.

“I’ll bring you something then,” Thor said.

 

&&&&&&

 

“You don’t think Thor’s going to try and bring him to dinner, do you?” Bruce asked, as he unpacked a bag of Chinese takeout.

“It’s Thor. He’s probably going to want us to throw a feast to celebrate his first night here,” Natasha said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. 

“You seem surprisingly comfortable with the idea,” Steve said. 

“I’m carrying eleven knives and a stun gun,” She said, and quickly demonstrated the fact by spearing an egg roll with a combat knife.

“Is that any different to what you usually have at dinner?” Tony asked, digging through a bag. 

“I usually leave the gun in my room,” She said.

“If I were you I’d have brought more,” Clint said, laying his bow on the table. 

“Come on guys, what did we agree? No weapons during dinner,” Steve said. 

“As long as Loki’s spawn is in the tower, I don’t go anywhere unarmed,” Clint said.

“I look forward to seeing how you manage a shower without losing the quiver,” Tony said, rifling through another bag. “But you guys don’t need to worry about Cujo coming to dinner. He turned Thor down on that one. And did I or did I not order spicy pork?”

“When did you talk to Thor?” Bruce asked.

“I haven’t. I’ve been having Jarvis give updates on everything that happens in there. That and a video check every half hour,” Tony said, continuing his search.

“You’re spying on them?” Steve asked.

“I actually find that reassuring,” Natasha said, and she reached to pull a bag from under the table and offered it to Tony.

“You hid the spicy pork?” Tony asked. “That’s one of the most evil things you can do to a person.” Natasha just shrugged and continued with her meal.

“I can’t believe you’re having Jarvis spy on him,” Steve said. “You’re the one who invited him to live here.” 

“That doesn’t mean I trust him,” Tony said. “Thor wanted him here, so I made it happen. Although to be fair, from what I’ve seen so far, I doubt he’ll give us any problems.”

“None of this matters. Fury is never going to just let him stay here. It’s only a matter of time till he shows up with an extraction team,” Natasha said.

“Well I’ll be counting the moments.” Clint said. Thor came into the room soon after and conversation briefly stopped. Thor announced that he would be taking dinner with his nephew, grabbed a few cartons and left. 

“He seems happy,” Steve said.

“It’s Thor. You give him extra Pop Tarts in the morning and he’s happy,” Clint said. “He’s like a kid.”

“Speaking of kid, something’s been bugging me,” Tony said, through a mouthful of pork. “Bruce, you did the math on Thor’s age last year, right?”

“Yeah,” Bruce said.

“You said that Thor was about 35?” Tony asked.

“Give or take,” Bruce said. “The math wasn’t exactly easy.”

“But let’s say that Thor is 35,” Tony said. “And Loki is just a little bit younger.”

“What’s your point?” Steve asked.

“I’m just trying to figure out how it is that we have a 22 year old on the next floor,” Tony said. It didn’t take long for everyone else in the room to do the math.

“You’re saying that Loki was a teen parent?” Clint asked, barely fighting the urge to laugh.

“He can’t be that old,” Steve said. “We saw him in the panic room and he looks like he’s still in his teens.”

“Let’s be nice and say the kid’s eighteen,” Tony offered. “That would still result in a Sixteen and Pregnant situation.”

“You’d think that that would have come up somewhere in Thor’s stories,” Steve said.

“You’d think Fenrir would have shown up somewhere,” Natasha interupted. “Thor tells stories about everything. Are we really supposed to believe that his brother had a son and Thor never mentioned him once?”

“He said it was a sore memory,” Bruce offered.

“His brother has tried to kill him half a dozen times and he still manages to tell stories about their adventures together,” Natasha reasoned. 

“So you think he might be a fake?” Clint asked.

“I think it’s a possibility that we should consider,” 

“Nope,” Tony said. “Look, we all know that Thor can be a little naïve sometimes. But even he’s not just going to believe some random guy who shows up and says, “hey, I’m family”.”

“We’ve dealt with memory spells before,” Natasha said. “Enough magic can make a person believe anything. Remember anything.”

“But to create a person,” Steve said. “An entire life? It’s too much.”

“Look at what we see every day,” Natasha said. “When Amora attacked last year Tony spent a week thinking he was a six year old girl.”

“We agreed never to speak of that again!!” Tony yelled, horrified at the memories.

“All I’m saying is that it’s not outside the realm of possibility,” Natasha continued, ignoring Tony.

“Why would someone go to all that trouble?” Steve asked. 

“It got him in here, didn’t it?” Clint pointed out.

“Besides, it’s no secret how Thor feels about Loki,” Natasha said. “What better way to get control over Thor than by giving him a link to his brother.”

 

&&&&&&

 

It was two days before Fury showed up again. As soon as he was through the door he called all of the Avengers to the 18th floor. 

“How’s the new addition?” Fury asked, once they were all seated.

“He hasn’t left his room since he went in. Unless Thor’s in there with him he basically just sits,” Tony said. He noticed the look Thor was giving and quickly added. “Or so I’d guess.”

“I guess we can be thankful for small favors,” Fury said. “My superiors weren’t exactly pleased when I told them about how our last meeting ended. Their first response was to send a strike team to eliminate him.” Thor glared at Fury but he kept talking. “Eventually they decided to go in another direction. You asked us to offer your nephew sanctuary. It’s been decided that he’ll have to pay for that privilege.” Thor stood up from his seat at the table. He saw the direction that this was heading and he didn’t like it at all. 

“Despite our increasing exposure to life on other planets, our knowledge of other life forms is frighteningly limited. A team is being put together of the best doctors and scientists this country has, and they going to come here and figure out how an Asgardian works,” Fury said.

“I won’t let you treat Fenrir like some animal.” Thor growled at Fury.

“Thor, the tests they want to do aren’t that different from the ones that you offered to do when you first joined the team,” Natasha reasoned. 

“You knew about this?” Thor demanded.

“Fury told the both of us before the meeting,” Clint said. “Personally I would have supported a full dissection, but they wanted to keep you happy.”

“No,” Thor stated.

“This is no longer up for discussion. Either he helps S.H.I.E.L.D learn about other life or he’s out,” Fury said. “And Stark doesn’t have a say.” Fury added when Tony started to speak.

“The tests are harmless,” Natasha said.

“Then why haven’t you done them on me?” Thor asked.

“Because every time we’ve tried to hook you up to machines, your electricity has short circuited them before we could get a reading. And there’s only so much we can get from a physical,” Natasha explained. 

“I’m not a fan of making people into lab rats, but that kind of knowledge would be invaluable,” Bruce admitted. “What if we allowed Thor to sit in on the exams? That way he’d know that we aren’t doing anything that crosses a line.” Bruce suggested, as much to Thor as Fury. He hoped that Fury was being honest about the tests being harmless, and the potential knowledge they could gain was unimaginable, but he knew how quickly some scientists could forget that their subjects were people. 

“I’m sure we could arrange that.” Fury conceded.

“It doesn’t matter. I won’t allow it,” Thor insisted. 

“If you can’t agree then neither of you are welcome here. No matter how much we might need you on the team,” Fury countered. “Even this offer is more lenient then we’d normally allow.”

“Then I guess I must leave,” Thor said, standing up.

“Where are you going to go?” Bruce asked.

“To Jane, if she will still have us. Then I will think of something more permanent,” Thor said. 

“You’ll have to think of something fast. Fenrir won’t be welcome anywhere S.H.I.E.L.D has jurisdiction. So you’ll have to take him out of America,” Fury said. This news made Thor hesitate for a moment, but he soon regained his resolve. 

“Then I suppose it won’t do me any good to linger,” Thor said, leaving the room. 

The next hour consisted of the team arguing with Fury about the ruling. The arguments included the need to have Thor on the team, the unfairness of making him choose between them and his family, and of the possibility that Thor might go to Loki if the Avengers cast him out. 

Fury insisted that the offer he’d given Thor had been the best he’d been able to create. He explained that, while he wanted Thor on the team, he couldn’t just let the son of the man who tried to conquer Earth just come to stay without some kind of exchange. The group seemed to be running out of things to say when Thor reentered. 

“I have explained the situation to Fenrir. Despite what I would have chosen, he has decided to take your deal. Assuming that I can be present, he will allow for the tests,” Thor said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that took a while. My original plan for the story had Thor finding Fenrir and then bringing him to live with the Avengers by chapter 3. Oh well, it's probably for the best. Now I can get to what I originally had planned which was the slow build of a romance between Fenrir and (please forgive technical difficulties). Keep reviewing.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to find the name for an X-ray machine only to find out that it's called... an X-ray machine. That's it. No more research.

“One test. You couldn’t even get through one test before you demolished the lab?!” Fury demanded.

It had been three hours since the disastrous first attempt to study Fenrir. The tests had begun well enough at first. Thor had resisted his desire to carry his nephew out of the building and Fenrir had made a valiant effort not to scream at all of the people touching him. Then the machines had started to malfunction and it was determined that Thor was the reason.

Fenrir began to panic at the mere mention of his uncle being asked to leave and, when the doctors pushed the matter, Thor had ripped open the X-ray machine that Fenrir had been in. Then, over the protests of the doctors, Thor had marched out of the room dragging Fenrir behind him. It had taken half the team to convince Thor not to leave, and the other half to keep the doctors from fleeing the building or calling the WSC.

Since then the Avengers had been sitting, mostly silent, as Fury and Thor went back and forth about what was going to happen next.

Thor began to explain again what had happened in the labs but his tale fell on deaf ears. “S.H.I.E.L.D. might not have been accommodating so far, but this is what you agreed to. I can’t have you throwing a fit and electrocuting someone every time someone is rude to your nephew.”

“It wasn’t his behavior toward Fenrir that I found to be intolerable,” Thor said. “It was his insistence that I leave.” Thor turned to glare at the doctor Fury had brought in to study Fenrir.

“He’s throwing off electrical interference and it’s affecting our machines,” Dr. Monroe explained. “As much as I’d love to study the science behind it, that’s not the job I was brought here to do.” 

Thor turned back to Fury. “Our deal was that I could be present when you performed the tests.”

“We can’t do the tests if you’re there,” Dr. Monroe insisted.

“Then you will not do the tests,” Thor said. 

“The tests are the deal,” Fury said. “I’m sure that we can make some arrangement that will work.” 

“I’m not sure we can,” Dr. Monroe said. “I was uncomfortable with the arrangement before but now that I’ve seen it in action I don’t think he can be allowed to be anywhere near the subject.”

“Doctor, you might want to rethink your choice of words.” Natasha warned.

“Even if the machines do work, with him around, we could never be sure if we’re getting a genuine reading. It would make this entire project useless.” He insisted, glaring back at Thor. “Besides which, I’m not sure I could get my team to come back if he’s going to be there. Especially if he’s going to begin smashing equipment every time the boy gets scared.”

“He has a point, Thor.” Maria Hill said. “When you get close to the machines their readings are inaccurate. We’ll try and work something out that you’re comfortable with, but I don’t see a way that this can be done with you in the room.” 

“I don’t trust these people enough to leave them alone with him.” Thor said. It looked like they’d all reached a stand still when Bruce stepped in.

“What if I did the tests?” Bruce said. 

“It might make Thor calmer, but as long as he’s there then we wouldn’t be able to trust the results.” Maria said. 

“Thor wouldn’t be there.” Bruce said. Thor started to protest. “I know this isn’t a perfect solution but you know how I feel about people being used as experiments and you know that there’s a line I won’t cross. We’ve worked together long enough that I think you could trust me to be alone with your nephew.”

“It’s a generous offer Dr. Banner, but this type of medicine isn’t exactly your specialty.” Dr. Monroe said. “You wouldn’t know the first thing to do with half of the information that you receive.”

“I’d just be running the tests. I’d send the results to your team and they can do whatever they want with them and send me instructions.” Bruce said.

“Do you think you could handle that?” Natasha asked and, reluctantly, Thor nodded his approval. Dr. Monroe wasn’t so easily satisfied. 

“He’s not qualified for this.” He insisted. 

“Doctor, either get on board or we’ll find someone else who will.” Fury stated. For a moment Dr. Monroe was silent. This was the biggest opportunity he’d ever have and he was being forced to watch as it was handed to someone else. 

“You record everything.” He ordered and, with one last resentful look toward Thor, he left the room. 

 

&&&&&&

 

The next morning Bruce began to wish that he’d put a little more thought into his offer before presenting it to Thor and Fury. At the time all he’d been able to think about was helping his teammate but now, as he approached the lab, the reality of the situation was starting to hit him.

Bruce had never been alone with Fenrir. As far as he knew no one on the team had been except for Thor. In fact, aside from a yelp made during the exam the day before, Bruce had never even heard Fenrir speak. Add to all this the fact that, although he might not be able to use magic, he’d demonstrated in New Mexico that he was still a very strong man and could probably do a lot of damage if he wanted to. And now Bruce was going to be trapping himself, alone, in a room with him. As he walked to the exam room he’d set up the night before, he tried to think if there was any way he could convince Tony to do the tests. He had robots for everything else, why not a Med Bot?

This line of thought was stopped short when Bruce got to the room and found Thor and Fenrir already outside waiting for him. No going back now. 

Thor smiled when he saw his teammate coming down the hall. “Bruce, I’m glad that you are here. I was just telling Fenrir about you.” Fenrir, who’s seemed to instinctively take a step toward Thor when he saw someone coming, made a brief effort to look up at Bruce.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Fenrir said quietly, before dropping his eyes back to the floor. 

“I’ve explained that even though I cannot be there he will be completely safe with you.” Thor said, putting an arm around his nephew. 

“Well.” Bruce said, feeling more awkward than he’d felt since Tony had tried to use him as a therapist. “You ready to get started?” 

After a quick glance toward Thor, Fenrir nodded his head. Thor assured him that he would be back to pick him up, and then turned and left. Fenrir seemed ready to run after him but stood his ground. Bruce held open the door and the two of them went inside. 

“Sit up here.” Bruce said, patting an exam table. “I figured we could start with a basic physical today, just keep things simple to start with.”

“Do I need to get undressed again?” Fenrir asked, remembering the day before. Bruce was surprised at how deep Fenrir’s voice was and almost forgot to answer the question. 

“No, not right now anyway.” Bruce said. Bruce began the physical and was relieved at how cooperative Fenrir was. Pretty soon he was able to stop worrying about his safety and simply marvel at the similarities and differences between races. While Fenrir’s reflexes were clearly advanced, Bruce hadn’t found anything drastically different from a human. Until he pulled out a stethoscope to listen to Fenrir’s heart.

“Fenrir.” Bruce said. “If I asked you to put your hand over your heart, where would you put it?” Fenrir looked at Bruce in confusion for a moment before moving his hand. Just as Bruce thought, Fenrir put it on his left side at the bottom of his rib cage. “That’s what I thought.”

“Is that wrong?” Fenrir asked nervously.

“Not wrong, more like a scientists dream.” Bruce noticed the confused look Fenrir was giving him and realized that he’d need to explain. “It’s different from humans.” Bruce moved to put his hand over his own heart. “Ours is up here. Thor’s is too, so this is interesting.” Bruce explained, pulling up the back of Fenrir’s shirt to get a better listen. Fenrir flinched and Bruce remembered what he was doing. “I want to listen to your heart and your shirt is muffling the sound. This will only take a second.” Fenrir was tense, but did nothing to stop Bruce so he continued.

Bruce listened to the area where Fenrir’s heart was and marveled at the sound. Then on an impulse he decided to try again from higher up on his back. He didn’t get very far. Fenrir’s back looked like a patchwork quilt. Scars cut across from every angle and Bruce couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of weapon had been used to cause this much damage. He had an unpleasant feeling that if he were to ask he would get a pretty long list. He pulled Fenrir’s shirt back down and stepped away from the table to write down what he’d learned.

“It lets you hear my heart?” Fenrir said, breaking the silence. When Bruce turned to look at him he gestured to the stethoscope. “That, it lets you hear my heart?”

“It makes it louder.” Bruce explained, offering the headset to Fenrir. After staring at if for a few seconds Fenrir took the earpiece and put it on. Bruce moved the bell over Fenrir’s chest. Fenrir jolted at the first sound and then smiled.

“That’s-” Fenrir started to say before reaching across to listen to Bruce’s heart. Fenrir continued smiling at his new discovery until he looked up at Bruce and realized what he was doing. Immediately the smile disappeared as he ripped the headset off and handed it back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t, I’m sorry.”

“Not a problem. I think everyone does that the first time they try one on.” Bruce watched as Fenrir visibly relaxed.

“I think we’ve done enough for today.” Bruce said. “If you can wait a minute I can walk you back to Thor’s room. 

“That’s all?” Fenrir asked.

“For today; Thor did tell you that you’d have to come back tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, he explained it to me.”

“We have time. We don’t need to do everything in the first day.” Bruce explained, holding open the door. 

Once he’d taken Fenrir back to Thor, Bruce returned to the exam room to go over his notes. He couldn’t decide if he should mention the scars or not. They weren’t exactly a medical discovery but they wouldn’t leave his head. Thor had told them that Fenrir had been tortured, but up until now, Bruce hadn’t really thought too much about the fact. He wondered what other injuries he would find as he continued working with Fenrir and he began to feel sick. It was becoming abundantly clear now why Fenrir didn’t like anyone but Thor touching him.

 

&&&&&&

 

“So did you hear about Junior’s first trip to the doctor?” Clint asked, slamming down into his chair. “According to Bruce he’s been a perfect patient.” Steve watched as Natasha took her seat on the couch and waited to hear what it was they wanted to tell him. Normally he was more than happy to have a meeting with his teammates; but when two of them dragged him off alone, five minutes after he’d gotten back from a night of patrolling, it tended to make him uneasy.

“What did he do?” Steve asked.

“Nothing.” Natasha said. “It’s been two weeks and there hasn’t been a single problem.”

“Alright, well if everything’s going fine then why did the two of you want to talk to me?” Steve said, not wanting to move from his place in the doorway.

“We have some concerns.” Natasha said.

“And since everyone else has decided to join Team Jacob, you were the only one to go to.” Clint said.

“Who’s Jacob?” Steve asked feeling confused.

“You don’t want to know.” Natasha groaned. “I’m frankly a little worried that he knows. He’s talking about Fenrir.”

“You just said that he hasn’t done anything.” Steve said.

“It’s not about what he’s doing. It’s about what we should be dealing with and aren’t. ” Steve waited wondering what else Natasha was about to add to his list of things to deal with. “Fenrir’s been on earth for about two weeks, and Thor’s had him for even longer-”

“So where the hell is Loki?” Clint interrupted. “It’s been over two months since the big ‘not dead reveal’ and there’s still no sign of him. Even if Thor is wrong about Loki being a great dad, he’d still want to come and stake his claim. If only on principle.”

“He has to know about what’s going on by now. As much as I’d like to think the delay’s because he’s gotten himself killed somewhere; I don’t think we’re that lucky.” Natasha said.

“Well what do you think? As far as I can tell we just having the same discussion we’ve been having since he got here.” Steve said. “I know that Loki is an issue but until he shows up there’s nothing we can do. As for Fenrir… unless he does something then there’s nothing we can do about him either.” Steve looked at Clint and Natasha and realized that they weren’t done. “What else?”

“Now that Fenrir’s back Thor’s increased all of his efforts to find his brother. He’s even put in a request to Dr. Strange to try and locate him. And since the chance of him causing problems is more of a threat, S.H.I.E.L.D. has increased searches for him too. And, if Thor’s stories of his mother are anything to go by, I’d bet that Frigga is searching too.” Natasha finished, glancing over to Clint.

“And?” Steve asked.

“We think that Thor finding him the way he did might not have been an accident.” Natasha said, turning back to Steve.

“You think that Loki arranged it?” Steve asked.

“No. We can debate the motives but Loki wouldn’t have left his son in prison for a day. Let alone a lifetime.” Clint admitted.

“Loki has a lot of enemies and for over a year he’s been a ghost. Now he’s going to have to show up.”

“You think Fenrir’s a lure.” Steve muttered to himself.

“That king did give him up pretty easily; considering the fact that he’s kept him there since he was a kid.”

“There’s another problem.” Natasha added. “If someone went to the trouble of bringing Thor to Svartalfheim to find Fenrir, it’s unlikely that they’d just leave everything to chance after that.”

“So if this was arranged somehow, then whoever did it is probably keeping a close watch.” Steve finally gave up and collapsed into a chair next to Natasha’s. As if worrying about what Fenrir might be capable of, and Loki’s inevitable arrival, weren’t enough to deal with.

“Is there a reason that you two didn’t want to tell the rest of the team about all of this?” Steve asked.

“Clint has another theory.” Natasha said.

“Let’s say we’re right that someone planned for Thor to find his nephew. He’s already gone through a lot of effort and, until Loki shows up, nothing to show for it. But he does have someone inside the tower.” Clint looked up at Steve as he finished speaking.

“No.” Steve said, quickly. “We’ve been through this before. He can barely be within five feet of someone without hiding behind Thor. I’ve seen trauma victims before and, believe me, he’s not faking that. He’s not a mole.”

“Not yet, but if someone were to take him back how long do you think he could hold out before he tells every detail of what he’s seen in here?” Clint asked. “And if he were taken how far do you think Thor would go to get him back?”

“What Thor would do seems more like a reason for someone to stay as far away from Fenrir as possible.” Steve said.

“Thor isn’t untouchable.” Clint said flatly. “None of us are. Not when it comes to the people we care about.”

“When Loki attacked Manhattan Thor stood by us and he always has.” Natasha continued. “But Loki has always been an aggressor, a threat. Fenrir isn’t, he is completely dependent on Thor. Right now, if Thor had to choose…I think he’s already made it clear where his loyalties lie.

 

&&&&&&

 

A week of exams later and Bruce now knew that, with the exception of his face and hands, there was barely a square inch of Fenrir that wasn’t scarred or mangled in some way. Bruce had been doing his best to keep their time completely professional, after all the goal of all these sessions was to learn more about the anatomy of Asgardians. While Dr. Monroe might have wanted to know the extent that Fenrir’s body could handle damage, Bruce had already decided he wasn’t going to go down that road until he was made to. As far as he was concerned the details of how Fenrir had been tortured were Fenrir’s to tell or not.

Even so it was becoming more and more difficult for Bruce to see that much damage day after day and not say something. The final straw came when he finally got around to X-raying Fenrir.

“How did this not kill you?” Bruce said, holding up the x-ray. Fenrir had no idea what he was being shown and just stared at it in confusion. “There is scar tissue on your heart that matches up with this enormous scar.” Bruce said, indicating the scar he meant. “You were stabbed and, even with what Thor’s told us about how quickly you can heal, an attack like that should have killed you.”

“Oh, I remember that one; they were pretty upset about it.” Fenrir said looking at the x-ray with a new understanding.

“Who was upset?”

“The council.” Fenrir explained. “There were rules for the people who came into my cell. Everyone knew that you weren’t supposed do anything that could kill me. That was the rule but… one man got carried away. I had to spend a week with healers. No one was happy about that.”

“Did that kind of thing happen often?” 

“No. Like I said, there was a rule not to kill me.” Fenrir looked up to meet Bruce’s gaze. “They could hurt me as much as they wanted, just so long as they didn’t spoil it for everyone else.”

“That’s why they left your hands alone.” Bruce realized.

“I had to be able to take care of myself.” Fenrir said simply.

Bruce had ended their session soon after that. He’d been feeling uncomfortably Hulk like after listening to Fenrir and decided that it would be best for everyone if he spent the next hour or so in a panic room.

 

&&&&&&

 

That they’d gone so long without realizing that it might be an issue was a true testament to how slow things had been lately. Still, the day finally came when a call came in for the team to assemble. Tony was the first to say it.

“How have we never thought of this until now?” No one else had to ask what it was he was talking about.

“We can’t just leave him alone here.” Natasha insisted.

“So what do we do, draw straws and loser stays here to babysit?” Clint asked.

“Not a terrible idea. So what do you say, Clint? I’ll give you ten dollars an hour and money for pizza.” Tony offered. Clint glared back and refused to answer. “I guess that means no. Can’t we just leave Thor with him?”

“We need the air support on this one.” Steve said.

“Who can we spare?” Natasha asked.

“I guess Clint could-” 

“No.” Clint said, before Steve could even finish his sentence.

“Then it’ll have to be Bruce.” He said after another moment and before Bruce could respond Thor came in.

“Jarvis has informed me that I am needed for battle. Which foe has dared challenge us this time?” Thor asked, coming to stand beside Tony.

“Some new villain team, calling themselves the Punishers, I’ll give you the details on the way.” Tony said as he slammed down his faceplate. They were all out the door when Thor stopped and turned around. “Banner, won’t you be coming with us into battle?”

“I’m sitting this one out.” Bruce said.

“I am glad to hear it. I had worried that Fenrir might not enjoy being in the tower by himself.”

“Yeah, Thor.” Clint muttered as he passed. “Wouldn’t want your nephew to get lonely.”

 

&&&&&&

 

“You know that you’re allowed out of your room, don’t you?” Bruce asked Fenrir later that day. Since he’d been told to stay behind Bruce had decided he may as well get the next round of tests out of the way.

“I’m fine in there.” Fenrir insisted from where he was lying stretched out on the exam table. During tests a few days before Bruce had noticed that Fenrir seemed to be letting of some kind of energy. Bruce knew from experience that Thor always had a mild electrical field around him, but what he was getting off of Fenrir was something entirely different. At the moment Bruce was running a miniature spectrometer over him to see if they were dealing with gamma radiation. 

The tests were simple enough but they required as little interference between Fenrir and his machines as possible. This meant that Fenrir had had to strip down before they’d begun. Realizing that this change had made Fenrir even more anxious than he usually was Bruce had been trying to keep him talking to keep his mind off of it. So far he wasn’t having much luck. 

“There’s a lot here, training rooms and a library. Thor said that you liked to read, you should have him show you so you’ll have something to do the next time he’s on mission.” Bruce suggested. Instead of answering him, Fenrir seemed to put more effort into staring at the same spot on the ceiling.

Bruce looked back down at the spectrometer in his hand and shook his head. Still nothing. He put it back on the table and began looking for a Geiger counter.

“Listen, I know that it probably just seems easier to stay where it’s just you and Thor. We didn’t exactly go out of our way to make you feel welcome here, but this is your home now. If all you do is lock yourself in your room then aren’t you just trading one cage for another one?” Bruce finally found what he was looking for and turned back to Fenrir. 

“Who knows, you might even enjoy-” Bruce froze. “Fenrir? Fenrir.” In the minute that Bruce’s back had been turned something had changed. Fenrir was still lying staring at the ceiling but his eyes had glazed over. His breathing was sharp and quick and Bruce was pretty sure that he was beginning to shake. What was going on? Bruce hurried over to the table and reached his hand around Fenrir’s neck to check his pulse. 

“No!!” Fenrir yelled, smacking Bruce’s arm away and moving to his knees on the table. “No.” Fenrir repeated, looking at Bruce with a look of fear and total hatred. Bruce looked back at Fenrir and was hit with a sudden realization that whatever Fenrir was seeing right now, it wasn’t him. 

Bruce held his arm to his chest and took several deep breaths to calm ‘the other guy’ down before dealing with Fenrir. 

“Fenrir, I need you to calm down. Everything’s okay,” Bruce barely needed to finish the sentence before he saw that it wasn’t working. Bruce knew dozens of ways to calm himself down when he was on edge. Hell he had spent years on that goal alone. But how to talk someone down from, what he had a feeling was, a painful flashback hadn’t been in the lessons.

Bruce tried to keep his own breathing steady. His wrist hurt and his vision kept tinting green around the edges. Fenrir looked like he was getting more worked up by the second. Bruce saw that there were about a dozen ways that this situation could end disastrously for the both of them. 

He needed to get Fenrir to calm down and quick. Bruce tried to remember what had worked back when Tony had been having panic attacks but nothing came to mind. More than anything he was wishing that he’d elected to take at least one Psych course when he’d been in school. Now all he had was the memory of a pamphlet Pepper had brought for Tony once; that and a hunch.

“Fenris? Fenris, I need for you to listen to me.” Bruce tried slowly. All Bruce got was a slight head tilt but at least he knew that Fenrir was hearing him.

“Alright, Fenris, I need for you to do something for me.” Bruce said, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. “I want you to look around the room and I want you to tell me where you think you are right now.”

For a minute it seemed like Fenrir was going to stay right where he was then, slowly, he began looking around the room.

“I’m in a” Fenrir continued looking around the room and Bruce could see that reality was beginning to take hold again. “I’m in the lab. I’m on Earth.” Fenrir said after a pause. Bruce was relieved to see that his breathing was already going back to normal.

“You’re doing really well, Fenris.” Bruce said. “Now what I want you to do is take a few breaths.” Fenrir continued looking around the room like something wasn’t adding up. Then, just like that, it was over.

“I’m sorry.” Fenrir said, jolting back to reality. “I’m sorry, Bruce, I didn’t mean to.”

“Do you think you can tell me what happened?” Bruce asked, struggling to keep green from the edge of his vision. The Hulk didn’t like it when Bruce got hurt and Bruce was pretty sure that his wrist was dislocated.

“I thought I was, you grabbed, I just… I don’t like it when people touch my neck.” Fenrir said, pulling his knees to his chest.

“Fenrir, I-” Bruce began.

“Can I go back to my room now?” Fenrir asked.

“I think we need to-” Once again Fenrir interrupted him.

“Please. Please I just really want to go back to my room.” Fenrir begged.

“Alright.” As soon as he got permission Fenrir grabbed his clothes and rushed out of the room. Bruce forced himself to wait and give Fenrir a head start before making his own dash to the panic room.

 

&&&&&&

 

“He broke your wrist?” Steve asked later that night.

“He didn’t break it, he just dislocated it.” Bruce said. Steve gave him a look. “For what it’s worth I don’t think he meant to do it. I think he was just trying to get away.” 

“Have you told, Thor?” Steve asked. 

“The moment he got back. He’s with Fenrir now.” Bruce said. In truth he hadn’t wanted to tell anyone but Thor. The team still seemed to be waiting for Fenrir to go crazy and kill someone, and he didn’t want them to feel justified because Fenrir has responded to a fear reflex. But, since Thor couldn’t keep a secret, Bruce knew it would be best if he just came clean.

“Did you put it in your report?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t know if I’m going to file it.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D needs to know what’s going on. We all have to be working with the same information. Even if it is an accident, knowing that he reacts that way when he’s panicked is important. It might even help us learn some of his triggers so we don’t accidentally step on some land mines with him.” Steve finished. Bruce nodded his agreement and their conversation was brought short when Tony, Clint and Natasha came into the room.

“Metal Man. Really, Metal Man?!” Tony said. “It’s a conspiracy. They’re trying to steal my title.”

“Tony, don’t take it so personally. The entire team was just a villain rip off of us. You didn’t notice Captain Capitalism?” Clint said, slamming down onto his spot on the couch.

“Between him and Steel Boy, it’s starting a trend. People trying to take my stuff.”

“Common, Tony, Metal Man wasn’t that similar.” Clint offered, not being able to hide a smirk.

“His suit was painted red and gold!” Tony yelled. Tony looked to Steve for support and seemed to notice Bruce for the first time. “So how was babysitting?

 

&&&&&

 

It was two days before Bruce felt up to another round with Fenrir. It wasn’t that he was afraid. He truly did believe that Fenrir hadn’t meant to hurt him, and his wrist had been fine by the time he came back from Hulking. What had kept him away was the realization of how truly miserable these tests must be for Fenrir. 

No one liked being studied like this, but it was becoming obvious to Bruce that what had happened to Fenrir on Svartalfheim was much worse than he’d ever considered. He wished that there was something he could do to help but, like he’d told Tony countless times, he wasn’t that kind of doctor. As he walked down the hall he tried to figure out if there could possibly be a therapist on Earth that could understand and help.

Not surprisingly Fenrir was already waiting for him when he arrived.

“I’m sorry about your hand.” Fenrir said, the moment he saw Bruce come in. 

“No harm done.” Bruce said, holding out his uninjured hand. Fenrir began to relax once he saw that Bruce was alright. 

“So, do you think you can tell me what happened last time?” Bruce asked.

“I, I told you. I don’t like when people touch my neck.” Fenrir said.

“Yeah, you said that, but you seemed to be pretty upset before that happened.”

“It was nothing. It won’t happen again.” Fenrir said.

“That’s not the point.” Bruce was about to continue when he heard a voice behind him.

“Director Fury needs to have a word with you.” Bruce turned around and saw Maria Hill. Like always when dealing with a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Bruce hadn’t heard her approach.

“About what?” Bruce asked, still trying to get over the surprise of her appearing in the room.

“I wasn’t told.” Maria said, sharply. “He’s waiting for you in the conference room.”

“I guess we’ll do this later.” Bruce said to Fenrir. 

“I was told to keep him here while you’re gone.” She said. Bruce didn’t like what he was hearing. He had a feeling that Fury was going to want to talk about Fenrir’s outburst and, judging by the look on Fenrir’s face, he’d come to the same conclusion. 

Reluctantly Bruce left the room and headed down the hall to the elevator. He stood in front of the control panel and waited for the doors to open. Tony had mentioned a few weeks back that he was going to improve the elevator to make it faster, but nothing had ever come of it.

“Dr. Banner, I would advise you to return to your exam room at once.” Jarvis said, just as the doors finally slid opened. “Mr. Lokison seems to be in a great deal of distress.” Bruce turned around and quickly headed back the way he came. 

He opened the door and saw Fenrir on the floor with Maria pinning him in a choke hold next to what remained of his exam table.

“What are you doing?!” Bruce yelled, rushing over to pull the two apart. Maria let go of Fenrir and calmly stepped away. 

“There was some concern about your last report.” Maria said, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her head. “Clearly he’s stronger than he lets on, and there was some suspicion that his inability to use magic might have been exaggerated. We needed to know what he was capable of.”

“So Fury sent you to attack him?” Bruce demanded.

“This goes beyond Fury, and yes. Specifically to choke him; your notes were very helpful on that point.”

“Get out.” Bruce ordered.

“You should be thanking me. I’ve been able to confirm that he can’t use magic.”

“Now!” Bruce growled. Maria recognized the gravely sound of the Hulk edging in and made her exit. Bruce took a moment to calm down ‘the other guy’ and then went to check on Fenrir. 

With Maria gone, Fenrir seemed to have completely shut down. He had his back pressed against the wall, legs curled into his chest and his arms wrapped around his throat. Bruce went over and tried to reach out to him.

“No!” Fenrir shouted, scrambling a few feet away from Bruce, and resuming his position. 

“Fenris. “ Bruce said, inching a little closer and making sure to keep his hands visible. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Fenrir shook his head vigorously from side to side. 

“Nononono.” He said to himself. 

“Fenris, you need to let me see your neck.” Bruce said. Fenrir looked at him with undisguised terror. “I need to see if you’re hurt. Just let me look for one second and then I swear I won’t touch you again.” Bruce waited to see how Fenrir would respond. Fenrir just stared at him. Bruce moved a foot closer and Fenrir still didn’t move. Bruce took this as permission to go and crossed the remaining distance between them. 

Fenrir still had his arms crossed in front of his neck and Bruce reached out to pull them away. Fenrir immediately locked his arms tighter and pulled away. Bruce waited a minute and tried again. This time Fenrir let him pull his arms away. Bruce quickly tried to assess the damage before Fenrir closed off again. There were serious bruises, and Fenris moaned at every touch, but no serious damage had been done. 

“There, I’m all done.” Bruce said, sliding away from Fenrir, who instantly returned his hands to his throat. “Why don’t we just sit here for a while and calm down?” Bruce said, as much for himself as for Fenrir. Maria had just embodied everything he didn’t trust about S.H.I.E.L.D. They’d known what Fenrir was afraid of and they’d used that to prove something that they’d already known! It wasn’t like Fenrir had shown up alone saying that he couldn’t cast spells. He’d had the enchanted bracelets forced on him. Wondering if Fenrir was a danger was one thing, but there was no reason to think he was lying about the magic.

“Are you all right?” Bruce asked, once he was sure that he had the Hulk under control. Fenrir looked up at him with a blank eyed stare and said nothing. “Fenris, I’m so sorry about this.” Bruce offered. “I shouldn’t have left you alone with her. You didn’t deserve that.”

Bruce stood up and looked around at what was left of the exam table. The pieces were all over the room and he couldn’t be sure if Fenrir had been trying to use the pieces to try and defend himself or if he’d just been trying to grab something. Either way it was clear that Fenrir had been fighting for his life. It was all making him feel sick. 

“Come on, I’ll take you back to your room.” Bruce said, offering Fenrir a hand. To his surprise, Fenrir took it and pulled himself up. Bruce let go and turned toward the door and, before he knew what was happening, Fenrir grabbed him.

 

&&&&&&

 

“And then he rode the shield down a river of molten gold to escape!” The Dwarf yelled as he finished off his drink.

“And how did the shield not melt in all that gold?” One of his companions asked.

“Obviously it was made of stronger material.” The man insisted, motioning to a barmaid for another drink and being pointedly ignored. 

The taverns on Nidavellir weren’t renowned for their luxury or service, but the strength of the drinks was usually more than enough to keep most Dwarves happy.

“Why didn’t the Dragon just burn him? He’d been throwing fire at him through rest of the chase; did he suddenly forget how?” The dwarves at the table turned to look up at the newcomer to their table. There was nothing especially strange about the dwarf. In fact his appearance was entirely unremarkable but the hooded cloak he wore, that caught notice. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I heard your tale and couldn’t help but listen. You’re Brokkr, aren’t you?” The man asked.

“I am indeed, and who are you?” Brokkr asked, eyeing the stranger with new interest.

“A traveler.” The man said. “I’ve come to your village in the hopes of having a few items crafted, however, that is business that can wait until the morning. For now I’d like to hear the rest of this story.” Brokkr smiled at the encouragement and was about to continue his story when he was again interrupted.

“My brother’s stories are full of more hot air than a forge. The name’s Etri, and if you’re looking to have something crafted then you’d do better talking to me than wasting your time with him.” Etri said, waving the rest of their party away and motioning for the man to join them at their table.

“Yet it’s the both of you that I want.” The man insisted. “The famous brothers who crafted Mjolnir for the Asgardians.” The two brothers smiled at each other.

“That and the spear Gungnir were our greatest accomplishments. Great as our other creations may be we’ve yet to create anything of their caliber.” Etri said.

“It is true that nothing has ever inspired us like those weapons did.” Brokkr agreed.

“I have designs for some items that I was hoping to have made. Nothing so grand as Gungnir, I’m sure, but I believe that in your hands they could be given real power.” The man said, reaching into his cloak to retrieve a scroll. “Do you think you’d be interested?” He said, holding the parchment out in front of him.

“Objects like these would be costly to produce.” Brokkr said after eyeing the designs.

“I assure you that I can obtain you any gold that you would require.”

“How did you obtain these designs?” Etri asked, studying the stranger more closely. There was something off about this man, Etri was sure of it, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. 

“Scholars of Vanaheim, brilliant at imagining, but lacking the skill to bring their creations to life. This is where I hoped that the two of you could help me.” The question stood unasked between them all for a minute as the brothers tried to make up their minds. 

It was clear that the items they were being asked to make were intended for destruction. Then again the gold from a job like this would be more than they’d earn in a century otherwise. And it had been so long since they’d had a chance to work on anything or real value.

“We can do it.” Etri said finally. “But items like this will take time.” 

“Time I have.” He said with a smile.

“I’ll have to travel to Asgard to obtain some of these materials.” Brokkr said. “Maybe I’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the new prince while I’m there.”

“Has Odin decided to adopt again.” The man said. Both brothers turned at the unexpected bitterness in the man’s tone.

“No.” Etri said, appraising the man again. “He meant the lost prince. The child of the second son, Loki, was recently found.”

“Oh, that.” The man said, sounding unimpressed. “I heard those rumors when I was on Vanaheim. There’s nothing to them. Everyone knows that the prince was killed ages ago.”

“No it’s true.” Brokkr insisted. “One of our kinsmen was recently approached by the queen to craft a gift to welcome him home.”

“What?”

“It’s as he says.” Etri said. “The queen brought the designs to him herself.” The man abruptly stood up.

“I’m sorry to cut our meeting short I must leave.” He said, with a quick bow. 

“Do you still want the items?” Brokkr asked the retreating figure.

“Of course.” The man snapped, barely slowing his march to the door.

“And how exactly are we supposed to contact you?” Etri asked.

“Don’t worry.” The man said, turning from the door. “When the objects are done, I’ll find you.”

Once he was a good distance away from the tavern Loki waved his hand over his face and removed the last of the glamor that was making him look like a dwarf. He wasn’t proud of his exit; it had been sloppy and he’d drawn more attention to himself then he’d wanted. But how could he be expected to linger with news like that?

Of course he’d heard the rumors floating around the realms that the youngest prince had been found alive. That Thor had somehow discovered him and brought him back to Asgard. He’d heard them all and dismissed every one of them.

Fenrir was dead, and he’d followed enough legends and rumors over the years to know that it was true. Loki bitterly remembered the months he’d searched for the island of Lyngvi, after hearing the human legend that said Fenrir was imprisoned there. Of course there had been nothing there. Just like there had been nothing to any of the other rumors that his son was alive.

This new ‘discovery’ was clearly just another ploy of Odin’s. One more attempt to lure him out into the open so he could be taken out of the way. Or at least that was what Loki had thought. But Frigga; Frigga had loved Fenrir too much to insult his memory. She wouldn’t craft a gift for a boy long dead just to lure him in a trap.

The timing was bad. His plans for Earth were finally coming together and a trip to Asgard now could ruin everything. But if the rumors really were true, and his son really had survived somehow. There was no way around it. He had to know for sure. It looked like he was going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who noticed that my tags have changed, the story has taken a slightly different turn than I had originally planned and some things no longer apply.   
> Also sorry for the long delay in posts. Just moved to the opposite end of the country.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay in posting. I had some problems getting this chapter to sound right. Thanks so much to everyone who's been posting kudos and reviews.

It took a moment after Fenrir had grabbed him for Bruce to process what the arms around him meant.

“Okay so, we’re hugging now?” Bruce said. Fenrir pulled away and Bruce turned around to face him.

“Is that wrong?” Fenrir asked, taking a step away. “I just thought that… I mean, we’re friends. That’s what friends do right?”

“Sometimes,” Bruce said as he tried to remember the last time one of his friends had randomly hugged him. He had a feeling that it hadn’t happened since he was in elementary school. He also had a feeling that Fenrir hadn’t been much older when he’d had his last friend.

“You just surprised me. You didn’t seem like the hug type.” 

“I’m not. I mean, I don’t really like people touching me,” Fenrir admitted, shifting farther away. “I just didn’t know what else to do. I haven’t had friends in a while.”

Bruce was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Fenrir thought they were friends. When had that happened? So far their entire relationship had consisted of him using Fenrir as a science experiment. Fenrir never talked to him if he didn’t have to and now he had, unintentionally, just gotten Fenrir attacked. Where in all of that had Fenrir decided that this is a person that I can trust.

“Well I’m honored that you chose me,” Bruce said, completely at a loss. He and Thor needed to have a serious talk when he got back. Why, today of all days, did Thor have to be out visiting Jane?

Bruce mentally kicked himself for the thought. Of course Thor would be out today. S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn’t have wanted to risk having him around when they blindsided Fenrir. Bruce shook off his disgust with S.H.I.E.L.D and focused back on the matter at hand. Namely, that Fenrir had chosen him as his first friend on Earth.

“Listen, why don’t I walk you back to your room? We can hang out until Thor gets back,” Bruce offered. He immediately knew that he’d made a mistake when Fenrir’s face went blank. 

“Hey, it’s your room. If you don’t want me in there that’s fine,” Bruce offered.

“You’re not really going to tell Thor about this, are you?” Fenrir asked, looking like he was about to be sick.

“I was planning to,” Bruce said.

“You you can’t tell Thor about this,” Fenrir said.

“Fenrir, you-”

“You can’t tell Thor,” Fenrir insisted. 

“I have to tell Thor about what happened here. What they did to you was wrong,” Bruce studied Fenrir and tried to figure out what was happening. 

“You don’t understand,” Fenrir said. “If you tell Thor about this then he’ll make us leave.” Bruce stared at him for a moment before he continued.

“He almost left before, when we first got here and you all said I couldn’t stay unless I agreed to be studied. He was ready to go. He was packing; I had to talk him out of it. I had to convince him that I wouldn’t mind.”

“I’ve got to say that I’m surprised that you would want to stay here so badly,” Bruce said. “Honestly, given everything that we’ve put you through here, I’d think you’d be more than ready to go.”

“When I was in Asgard with Thor he was always telling me stories about Earth. Of your team, of his adventures, and his feelings for Jane. This is his life now and he loves it here. If he has to leave because of me then he will be giving up everything that he cares about on this planet. Then he’ll hate me for it.”

“Thor would never hate you.”

“Thor is the only family that I have left. Odin wishes me dead, Frigga is barred from seeing me and my father, well, my father has clearly moved on with his life. If I lose Thor then I have nothing. Maybe he wouldn’t hate me if I made him leave, but I can’t take the chance,” Fenrir said. “I am begging you, please, please don’t tell Thor about this.”

“Alright. If you really don’t want me to tell him then I won’t,” Bruce finally agreed. 

“Thank you,” Fenrir said, color slowly returning to his face. 

“It might help if he thought that you liked it here.” Bruce offered. 

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re always in your room then Thor might start to think that you’re unhappy here, and he might leave anyway,” Fenrir was beginning to go pale again so Bruce knew he had to work fast. “But if he thought you were happy here then he’d want to make sure that you could stay. Even if something else happened.”

“What exactly are you telling me to do?” Fenrir asked, eyeing Bruce nervously.

“Just come out of your room. Get to know the tower. Try talking to people,” Bruce said. “You don’t need to do it alone. Thor can be with you, or I could take you but you need to try.” Fenrir was quiet for a minute before speaking.

“Where do I start?”

“It’s lunchtime, come to the kitchen with me.” Bruce said. “I’ll even make you lunch.” Fenrir’s lips twitched into a faltering smile as he nodded.

 

&&&&&

 

Thor was so thrilled to see Fenrir moving around the tower when he returned that he barely noticed the quickly fading bruises on his neck. When he found out that Fenrir was finally up for a tour it was all Bruce could do to keep Thor from hefting him over his shoulder and running around the tower. Eventually he was able to calm Thor down enough that Fenrir was able to walk on his own; mostly.

The next few days were packed as Thor and Bruce took turns showing Fenrir the tower and all it had to offer. Meanwhile Bruce, who still couldn’t figure out when or why Fenrir had decided they were friends, was finding that besides just being harmless Fenrir was actually pretty likable. 

Fenrir was still cripplingly shy and quiet, it was true, and Bruce often found himself wondering if Fenrir was even hearing what he was saying when he would go on a silent streak. But when he did talk he was nice, and much more curious about Earth than Bruce had originally thought. While Fenrir still spent most of his time alone, in his room or with Thor, he now also spent time with Bruce. 

“Why did I see Fenrir in your lab this morning?” Clint asked, surprising Bruce one night at dinner.

“Because he was in the lab with me,” Bruce said.

“Why are you letting him in there?”

“He gets bored when Thor’s not around so he came to hang out for a while,” Bruce said, wishing that Clint would just let it drop. 

“And you don’t see a problem with letting him get close to the equipment?” Clint asked. “That’s funny, because last time I checked, you were doing weapons research for Tony.”

“Fenris doesn’t even know what most of that equipment does. He’s still having trouble figuring out how to work my kindle.”

“I’m with Bruce on this,” Tony said, from across the table. “Even Cap’s got more technical skill than Toto.”

“Did you know that he’s been going down there?” Clint demanded. 

“I’ve bumped into him a few times,” Tony said. “Hard not to now that he follows Bruce around like a p-”

“Please don’t say it,” Bruce said with a groan.

“Like a shadow,” Tony said. “A six foot tall shadow.”

“Suddenly this is okay, having him wandering the tower?” Clint asked. “I thought you didn’t trust him.” Clint demanded of Tony.

“For the first two weeks he was here I had Jarvis give me an hourly video report on everything that Fenrir did. Do you know what I got from all of that?” Tony asked. 

“Absolutely nothing. And I don’t mean he wasn’t doing anything suspicious. I mean that he does nothing. When Thor isn’t in the room, he sits. Sometimes on one side of the room, sometimes on the other, and every once in a while he’ll lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling. I eventually just had Jarvis give me a heads up when he did something out of the ordinary like read a book.” 

“I can’t believe this.”

“I know; children of teen parents usually fall short in academics but he seems to really like reading,” Tony replied.

“He wasn’t a teenager, you know,” Bruce said, trying to distract them both before Clint started swinging.

“What?” Tony and Clint asked.

“Loki, when Fenrir was born Loki was probably in his early twenties. Or, the Asgardian equivalent anyway.”

“Explain.” Tony said.

“Asgardians slow down the longer they are alive. It takes you one year to turn one, five to hit two, 10 more to hit three and so on. So a thirtysometing guy having a twenty year old son isn’t that hard to believe.”

“So you did the math?” Tony asked.

“No. Figuring out Thor’s age was enough of a headache. I’m never doing that again.” Bruce said with a shudder.

“Why, seems like a pretty simple formula?”

“Until you average in that years on Asgard aren’t always the same length. Some are longer than others and depending on when you’re born, you age accordingly.”

“And does an elephant occasionally have to lift a leg so a moon can go by?” Tony asked.

“What?” Bruce said.

“You obviously aren’t reading the right books. Anyway, I’m figuring out the age,” Tony declared. 

“Wonderful as all this is, I really don’t see how finding out if he can legally get drunk makes any difference to whether or not he’s dangerous,” Clint said.

“Clint, he’s not dangerous,” Bruce repeated for what felt like the 80th time that week.

“Then why isn’t Pepper here?” Clint asked, redirecting his attention at Tony “A few weeks ago you were ready for Pepper to move in here for good. Her floor’s been ready. So if everything here’s so safe then why’d you push back the move in?”

“Pepper is the one who pushed it back. CEO’s get busy. She’s moving in, Barton, date’s been set,” Tony insisted.

“And you told her about him?” Clint asked.

“Of course,” Tony said.

“You’re all making a mistake.” Clint said, as he left the room.

 

&&&&&

 

Thor really could have stayed behind during their next battle but Tony had a mission and he knew that there was no way he was going to get alone with Fenrir when anyone else was in the tower. So the next time there was a call to assemble Tony’s armor was, unfortunately, in the middle of updates. “Guess I’ll have to stay behind, so sorry.”

To give Tony credit he did manage to resist the impulse to run to Fenrir’s room the second the Avengers assembled. He was able to wait a full seven minutes before he was knocking on Fenrir’s door. “Alright, Lone Wolf, let’s go,” Tony said, grabbing Fenrir’s arm the second the door was open. 

“Wait. I don’t, where are we going?” Fenrir asked as Tony dragged him down the hallway. 

“Library,” Tony said. “If we’re going to figure this out we’ll need star charts and I never got around to having Jarvis scan them all.” Tony let go of Fenrir’s arm once they were in the library and left to search the shelves. 

“What are we figuring out?” Fenrir asked, still confused and a little nervous about what Tony had planned.

“Your age,” Tony said, letting out a laugh when he found what he was looking for. “Ha, Asgardian star charts. Thank you, Thor.” Tony looked over to where Fenrir was standing and motioned him over to a chair. “Sit, I’m going to need your help on these years.”

It took forty minutes of solving the most absurd and nonsensical math of his life, but finally Tony had his answer.

“Twenty-one!” Tony yelled, when he finally figured it out. “This calls for celebration.” Fenrir sat stiffly in his chair for a few minutes after Tony left. Was he supposed to have followed him? And what exactly was it that they were celebrating?

Before Fenrir could give the situation any more though, Tony reappeared. 

“Congrats, you’re officially legal,” Tony said, sitting back down and pouring Fenrir a drink from the bottle he’d just brought back. Fenrir considered not drinking it but then Tony poured a glass for himself. While Fenrir still had no idea what it was they were celebrating, he decided that it was probably best to just go along with what Tony wanted.

“Well it looks like we’ve still got some time before everyone gets back. May as well not waste it,” Tony said, grabbing a book from under his chair. “Norse Myths. I bought this after your dad threw me off of a tower a few years back. Thought I might learn something useful that we could use later.” Fenrir slumped down in his chair at the mention of his father but Tony kept talking. “Now Thor insists that these stories are all wrong but the fact that he smashes every copy of this book that he sees makes me think that some truth might have slipped through.”

“You want to know about the horse, don’t you?” Fenrir asked, before Tony could go on.

“Loki is one of my greatest enemies. Maybe the greatest after Justin Hammer and that guy who refuses to let me have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame,” Tony said. “He tries to kill us all on a regular basis and has come pretty close to succeeding more than once. So out of all the things that I could ask, why would you think that my first question would be about a horse?”

“Because everyone always wants to know about the horse,” Fenrir said, simply.

“Well, who am I to break with tradition. So-”

“No, my father did not sleep with and give birth to a horse,” Fenrir said with a sigh. “There was a time when my father was very interested in how animals could interact with magic and tried his hand at breeding enchanted animals. Sleipnir was his greatest success in that area.”

“Well that’s disappointing,” Tony said. “So how’d it go from Farmer John to bestiality?”

“There was… a bet,” Fenrir began, recapturing Tony’s interest immediately. “Back in the days when Asgardians were worshiped on Midgard, my uncle and a few of his companions decided to see who could make humans believe the most ridiculous legend. I believe the story about my father turning into a female horse won.”

Tony used every ounce of control he had, admittedly that was only enough to last him five seconds, but he was unable to stop himself from laughing hysterically. The idea of Loki being labeled as the mother of a horse for thousands of years because of a bar bet gone far too well. It was just too good not to savor.

“So how about when Thor dressed up like a bride to steal back Mjolnir?” Tony asked when he’d finally calmed down. “Any truth to that one, or is this where I find out that Thor actually used to make dresses.”

Fenrir knew that it wasn’t right to expose his uncle to ridicule. Thor had done nothing but take care of him since he’d found him and this story was not one that he liked to share. However he had just listened to Tony laugh at his father for almost ten minutes so it seemed only right that he try and put them on even ground. “That story is true. Thor was furious when he found out they’d never even had the hammer,” Fenrir said. 

“I thought the whole reason he put on the dress was because someone stole his hammer.”

“Thor thought so too,” Fenrir said. “But the hammer was never stolen. Thor hadn’t had Mjolnir long and he wasn’t very experienced in summoning it. Sometimes it came to him and sometimes it didn’t. One day he was training and he left it behind. Thor couldn’t remember where he’d left it and spent an entire day looking for it, but it was my father who found it.

“There was a man from a highborn family named Kellen. And he was madly in love with Freya. He’d sent her five marriage proposals that year alone. The day that Thor lost his hammer a letter came from Kellen and my father may have… intercepted it. He left the proposal alone but at the bottom he added that he had the hammer and was keeping it until she said yes.”

“So how does that end with Thor in a dress?” Tony prompted.

“My father convinced Thor that he should go in Freya’s place and steal the hammer back.”

“He didn’t really think he was going to fool anyone like that, did he?” Tony asked, wondering if Thor had even thought to shave his beard.

“Thor might have been under the impression that my father was going to put an illusion over him to change his appearance.”

“I’m guessing that the story doesn’t really end with Thor reclaiming the hammer and killing everyone either.”

“Can you imagine my uncle in a wedding dress?” Fenrir asked.

“Right now I’m having trouble not imagining it.”

“No one would believe that he was a woman, let alone the most beautiful woman in the nine realms. They saw through the trick the second Thor came through the door.

“They laughed, the trick was revealed and Thor went home embarrassed. In truth, most people believe that he was the one who began the stories about Frost Giants and the epic battle with Thrym that followed.”

“That’s admittedly a pretty epic prank.” Tony said.

“It was just a bit of fun.” Fenrir said with a smile.

 

&&&&&

 

It was the first time that Fenrir had been in the library by himself, the first time that he’d gone anywhere in the tower without an escort, but Thor was out and he had been bored. It was true that he could have gone to look for Bruce, all his instincts were telling him to go find him now, but sometimes he worried that he bothered him too much. That was all really beside the point though because what he’d truly wanted was something new to read. 

Since leaving Asgard he’d read the books in his father’s trunk at least a dozen times over. He knew that stories by heart and, as much as he loved them, he was itching for something new. Something different. Something like the book that Tony had offered him earlier in the week.

It was true that there was a lot in the story he hadn’t understood, in regards to Earth culture, but he’d loved it anyway. Thor and Bruce were frequently telling him that he should consider the tower his home and that he could go where he wanted. Tony had even given him permission to use the library anytime, when he’d given him the book. Even so, as Fenrir made his trip to the library all he could think was that he needed to hurry so he could get back to his room. He was considering a book called The Bourne Supremacy when he heard someone come up behind him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Fenrir turned around and realized that the voice belonged to the man his uncle had called Barton. Fenrir tightened his grasp on the book. Out of everyone who lived in the tower, Barton was the one who scared him the most. It no secret that he was disliked by most of the Avengers, but when Barton looked at him he could feel the absolute hate that the man had for him.

“Get out.” Barton growled. 

Fenrir immediately crossed the room to leave. As he reached the hallway he looked down and saw that he was still holding the last book he’d looked at. Suddenly he didn’t want to leave anymore. This wasn’t fair. It was one thing for the people on Asgard and Svartalfheim to hate him. But he’d never done anything to anyone on Earth and he was still treated like a criminal. Like a monster. 

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong.” Fenrir said, turning back into the library. 

“I didn’t ask.” 

“Why do you hate me so much?” Fenrir couldn’t believe what he was saying. All he wanted to do was run back to his room and slam the door. Lock himself inside and wait for Thor to come back. Every impulse was telling him to bolt but somehow he found that he was still standing in the library, waiting for an answer.

“There’s the fact that your father has spent the last three years trying to either destroy or enslave the planet. Or maybe it’s that he once used his magic to control me into murdering innocent people, committing treason and almost killing the people that I care about the most. A fact that he loves to remind me of, by the way. Is that enough of a reason?”

“I’m not my father.” Fenrir said. “I haven’t even seen him since I was a child.”

“Alright then, how about this? You look like him.” He said, moving closer to Fenrir. “Every time I see you I have to remember him and the things he made me do. Every time I see those eyes all I want to do is hurt you.”

“Would that change anything?”

“It would certainly make me feel better.” Barton said with a sardonic smile. Fenrir looked at him for a moment and then made his decision.

“Go ahead.” Fenrir said.

“Go ahead and what?”

“If hurting me will give you some level of restitution for what my father did to you then, by all means, do it.” Fenrir said.

“I’m sure you’d love that. The second I take one punch you’ll call Thor and tell him I tried to kill you.”

“Jarvis, are you there?” Fenrir asked. 

“Always, sir.” Jarvis said. 

“You can record things right?”

“Indeed.”

“I want you to record what I’m saying now. I am offering Barton this chance to gain justice for wrongs done by my father. I’m giving him permission to hurt me with no repercussions from me or my uncle.”

“I’m not sure that Master Odinson will find this arrangement acceptable.” Jarvis said. 

“I’m swearing an oath. Thor doesn’t have a choice.” Fenrir insisted. 

“And what makes you so sure that I won’t just kill you?” Barton asked, eyeing Fenrir up and down and wondering what the trick was in all of this.

“You won’t kill me. You’ve remained teammates with my uncle despite the fact that I’m here. You have too much respect for him to go that far.”

“What makes you so willing to take a punch?”

“I’m tired of people hating me for things I have no control over. I’m tired of having to be reminded daily of all the horrible things that my father has done. You say that this will make you feel better, and if it will get you to stop looking at me the way you do then stop talking and just do it.” Fenrir commanded. He would have gone on longer, now that he’d started there was so much more he wanted to say, but he was interrupted by a fist flying at his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that seems like a good place to leave things. I'll try and be a little quicker about getting chapter 14 up. As always, I love reviews. And the button is right there...


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter took so long. I got a little caught up with Nanowrimo. On the plus side chapter 15 is almost done and should go up next week.

“Three cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a black eye,” Bruce said, looking down at his notes. “If nothing else S.H.I.E.L.D is going to be getting plenty of data on how long it takes Asgardian’s to heal from injuries.” He tossed his clipboard down onto the table before slamming down into his chair.

“Has anyone told Thor yet?” Steve asked, glancing between Bruce and Natasha.

“Tony’s talking to him now,” Bruce said. “We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t level the tower.”

“At least Jarvis took that video. That should keep Thor from over reacting,” Natasha said.

“Over reacting?” Bruce said. “I think anything he’d do at this point would be pretty reasonable.”

“You don’t mean that.” Natasha said.

“Do you realize how badly you have to beat an Asgardian to leave these kinds of injuries?” Bruce demanded.

“He gave a trained assassin open permission to attack him,” Natasha said. “I think he knew what he was getting into.”

“Do you really think what Clint did was alright?” Bruce demanded.

“I can understand his choice,” Natasha replied. “And they both made a choice here.”

“Enough,” Steve interrupted. “Where’s Clint now?”

“Who knows,” Bruce said. “After Tony pulled him off of Fenrir he vanished.”

“Well we need to-” Steve’s next sentence was interrupted by a clap of thunder that shook the room. 

“He seems to be taking it well,” Natasha said. 

“Jarvis, do you know where Clint is?” Steve asked. A part of him was beginning to miss the days when his biggest problem was which villain was trying to kill them that week. To think that just a few months ago everyone was complaining that things had been too calm.

“I’m sorry sir,” Jarvis said. “ I am afraid that Agent Barton isn’t showing up on any of my scans. It would appear that he’s left the building,”

“Any ideas where he’s gone?” Bruce asked.

“The way things have been going lately, probably to join up with Dr. Doom,” Steve said.

“He still keeps a bunk at S.H.I.E.L.D,” Natasha said. “He probably decided to head over there until things cool down here.” The conversation was interrupted by another crack of thunder. 

“Natasha, I want you to go to the S.H.I.E.L.D base and find Clint,” Steve said.

“If he’s not there?” Natasha asked.

“Then find him,” Steve said. “You know him better than anyone so you should know where to look. The second you know where he is have him contact me. If there’s any chance of salvaging the Avengers then we need to do some damage control and quick.” Natasha headed for the door and paused as another bolt of thunder shook the building. She turned to take one last look at the two of them.

“This has been building up since Thor brought Loki’s son into the building,” She said. “Something happening between them was inevitable, but it could have been much worse.”

“So you’re saying I should be grateful that Clint didn’t just shoot him?” Steve asked.

“I’m saying that it had to happen,” She said. “Now that they’ve both gotten this out of their systems things can get back to normal around here.”

“You’re saying this like Fenrir wanted to get beaten up,” Bruce said, feeling disgusted.

“Didn’t he?” Natasha said, leaving the room before anyone could respond.

Steve and Bruce continued to sit at the table for a minute before either of them spoke.

“Bruce, I’m going to go and help Tony with Thor. If there’s anything else you can do to make Fenrir less broken before Thor gets there then that would be great.” Steve said, feeling more exhausted than he had in a long time. 

“There is something I can try.” Bruce said, heading off. Steve watched his teammate go and wondered how he was going to fix this. More and more everyone was splitting into a for and against category and if things didn’t change soon than it was going to break up the team. 

He knew that Thor had made the right decision in taking his nephew away from Asgard. The more Steve saw of Fenrir the more he believed that he needed, and truly deserved, a second chance. But having him in the tower was causing no end of problems. Most lately seeming to end with Fenrir in traction.

Letting him stay on earth wasn’t a question, but the Tower was starting to seem like less of an option. As he went to go join Tony he wondered if it would be completely unreasonable to suggest that Thor and Fenrir get an apartment.

 

&&&&&

 

To give S.H.I.E.L.D full credit they were efficient. Especially when they were hoping to avoid the wrath of an increasingly paternal Thunder God. In the time that it had taken for Thor to come back to the Tower, and for Clint to pull his disappearing act, they’d managed to turn what was left of Bruce’s exam room into a pretty impressive sick bay. 

Bruce was in the middle of filling up another bucket when he heard the door slam open.

“Fenrir!” Thor shouted, as soon as he spotted his nephew. He ran across the room to where Fenrir was lying in a bed and all but jumped on top of it with him. “I would have been here sooner but Stark wouldn’t tell me where you were until I talked with him and listened to the video that Jarvis made.”

“I told them that they didn’t need to call you,” Fenrir said. “I know that you had plans tonight.”

“Nothing could have kept me away when I heard what happened,” Thor insisted, wrapping a hand around the back of Fenrir’s neck. “Do not fear. I shall see that you receive justice for what transpired here tonight.”

“What?” Fenrir said sitting up. “I thought you said you saw the video?” 

“Barton had no right to do what he did,” Thor said.

“I told him that he could hurt me,”

“You are not on Svartalfheim anymore,” Thor said. “People cannot just attack you when they are unhappy.”

“I told him-”

“Even if he had permission to hurt you he should not have,” Thor insisted. “You are under my care now and I cannot allow such an offence to stand.”

“Thor, I gave my word that you wouldn’t seek retribution,” Fenrir said.

“He goes too far,”

“You can’t!”

“Why won’t you let me defend you?” Thor asked sadly. “Why won’t you let me fix this?”

“It’s my honor, Thor,” Fenrir said. “I don’t have much left as it is, but I gave a pledge. Please don’t make me break it. Please.” Thor was silent a few minutes before he begins to sigh in defeat. 

“You were the one who was wronged,” Thor said. “If it is truly your wish that I take no action, then I won’t.” They sat there in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Bruce, who had been trapped in the room during the argument, wished he could leave. Instead he finished filling up the bucket and went over to the bed. He considered explaining what he was about to do to Thor, but decided that they could all use a distraction, and proceeded to dump the contents over Fenrir. 

“Why are you covered in ice?” Thor asked, seeming to notice for the first time the pile of ice cubes that had been covering his nephew’s chest.

“It was Bruce’s idea,” Fenrir said. “He thinks that it will help me heal faster.” 

“I noticed that the last time he was hurt that the ice seemed to help more than it normally would,” Bruce explained. “I thought there might be a connection and, so far, it looks like I was right.” Bruce said, indicating to Fenrir. “I think it has something to do with his being half-Jotun, His black eye is practically gone and even for an Asgardian that should have taken a few hours.”

For a minute Thor looked happy at the thought that Fenrir wouldn’t be in pain long. But after he had had a minute to think about what Bruce had told him he realized something.

“When was Fenrir hurt before?” Thor asked. Bruce froze when he realized his mistake. Fenrir still hadn’t told Thor about what had happened with Maria!!

“You said that the last time Fenrir was hurt that the ice helped him,” Thor reminded Bruce, when he didn’t answer. “When did you have a chance to see the ice heal him?”

Bruce quickly tried to think of any reason that would explain why he had been putting ice on Fenrir’s neck. Anything that didn’t involve another person in the tower attacking Fenrir. But he couldn’t think of anything.

“It was when I was with Jane,” Fenrir interjected. “I told Bruce about when I burned myself and Jane gave me the ice.” Thor considered what he was hearing for a minute and seemed to find the answer acceptable.

“I’m glad that he’s found something to help you,” Thor said. It was clear to everyone in the room that Thor still wanted to go out and smash something with his hammer.

“How’s everything going?” Tony said, entering the room. “Now that you’ve all had a chance to hug it out are we all feeling better? Maybe decided to just forget everything that happened tonight and not level my very expensive Tower?” Tony scanned the room and, seeing how annoyed Thor still was, answered his own question. “Guess not.” 

“Well, much as I hate to interrupt the brooding and uncomfortable silence, I came to tell you that you have a call,” Tony said.

“For me?” Thor asked.

“Yeah, Jane called and asked me if you were coming back and if not could I get her a ride home.” Tony said.

“You were still on your date? I didn’t mean for you to leave Jane,” Fenrir said, the guilt showing plainly on his face. 

“You didn’t bring her home first?” Bruce asked.

“When I received the call from Tony telling me that Fenrir had been injured I was given no information.” Thor said, looking accusingly at Tony. “I didn’t know if I could afford to take the time to bring her home. I explained the situation to her. She understood.”

“Well, now she’s waiting for an answer. So are you going or do I send a car?” Tony asked. 

Thor looked down at Fenrir and then back to Tony. 

“If you would be willing to arrange for a ride for Jane, I would be extremely grateful,” Thor admitted. “I would feel better if I stayed with Fenrir.”

“I’ll have Happy swing by and pick her up. Where’d you leave her?” Tony asked pulling out a cell phone before stopping abruptly. “Wait, this wasn’t one of your New Mexico dates was it?”

“No, we weren’t in New Mexico,” Thor said. 

“That saves some time,” Tony said. “So where is she?”

“We were having dinner in Paris when I received your call. Although, I would imagine that she has left the restaurant by now.”

“Why do I have the sinking feeling you don’t mean Texas?” Tony said.

“You left your girlfriend alone in another country?” Bruce asked, stunned. “What were you even doing there?”

“We were having dinner,” Thor said. “I haven’t been able to spend much time with Jane lately and Paris is very romantic.” In the background Fenrir frowned, knowing that he was the reason that Thor hadn’t had as much time to spare for his girlfriend.

“Thor, go get her,” Bruce commanded.

“I’m sure-”

“Thor, go get your girlfriend.” Bruce repeated. Thor looked over at Fenrir with a worried look.

“Thor, I’m fine,” Fenrir said. “You should go and get Jane before she gets angry with you again.” 

“Again?” Tony asked with a smirk.

“She has only recently forgiven me for not calling her when I first brought Fenrir to earth.” Thor explained. He turned to look at Fenrir. “You are sure that you will be alright while I am away?”

“I am sure,” Fenrir said. “Tell Jane that I am very sorry to have interrupted her evening.” Thor hesitated a minute before heading up to the roof. With Tony following soon after Bruce and Fenrir were left alone together.

Bruce rolled his eyes as Thor and Tony left. If any other man bailed on his girlfriend in the middle of a date then he would usually end the night minus the girlfriend. Sometimes being a hero did have its perks. Bruce turned around and saw that Fenrir had gone very pale.

“Do you need anything?” Bruce asked. Fenrir didn’t answer right away. He was scanning the room like he is looking for something. All of the assertiveness that Fenrir had shown when talking to Thor was gone. 

“Fenrir?” Bruce asked. Fenrir is startled as he realized that Bruce had been talking to him.

“Are you alright?” Bruce asked. 

“I’m…I’m fine I.” Fenrir stopped and looked around again before stopping to stare at a wall. 

“It’ll be okay,” Bruce said, grabbing Fenrir’s attention. “Jane knows what Thor’s like. She’ll forgive him.”

“Oh, I know,” Shifting as he glanced around the room. “It’s just, um, do you think that I could be alone for a little bit?” Fenrir finished nervously. Bruce’s surprise must have shown on his face because Fenrir was quick to offer an explaination.

“It’s just that, when my uncle returns he’ll want to stay by my side until I am better. This may be my last chance to be alone for a while.” Fenrir said. 

Bruce could imagine that, after what had happened, when Thor got back he would likely want to begin a 24 hour vigil until Fenrir was completely healed. He also thought about how, even though Fenrir liked spending time with his uncle, after spending years alone in a cell a constant companion could be exhausting.

“I’ll just be down the hall,” Bruce said. “If you need anything or want me to come back just tell Jarvis.” Fenrir nodded his understanding and Bruce left the room. Fenrir waited in bed for a few minutes and just watched the walls before he did anything. He decided that it was now or never and, taking one last breath to steady himself, spoke.

“I know that you’re there,” Fenrir said. He looked over to the wall and immediately dropped his eyes back to his lap. Taking a deep breath he continued. “Thor has gone to retrieve Jane. So…If there is something you wish to say then now would be the time.” For a moment nothing happened and Fenrir began to wonder if he had really heard what he thought he had. Then a grate popped off of the wall and he watched as Barton slid out of the vent and onto the floor.

“How’d you know I was in there?” He asked, still facing the wall and making a point of not looking at Fenrir.

“I have very good hearing,” Fenrir said, shifting in his bed and fighting the impulse to call Bruce back. “How did you manage to stay in the tower without Jarvis knowing? I thought that he saw everything here.”

“He knew I was there,” He said. “I asked him not to say anything. I wanted to talk to you before I… well before I have to deal with everyone else. He can be surprisingly reasonable; for a voice.” Fenrir shifted into a sitting position to look at Clint and melted ice cubes slid to the floor.

“Why the ice?” Clint asked, finally turning to look Fenrir in the eye.

“It was Bruce’s idea,” Fenrir said. “So that I’d heal faster. It seems to be working.” There was another moment of silence as the two just looked at each other. 

“How do you feel?” Clint asked, after a moment of silence.

“I’m starting to feel better,” Fenrir replied. “The ice is helping.”

“Listen I’m… I’m sorry for what I did,” Clint began slowly. “I never meant for it to go that far. I only meant to hit you once and then I just, I couldn’t stop.”

“I told you that you could hurt me,” Fenrir said, shifting nervously in his bed. “You have nothing to regret. I’ll make sure that Thor stands by my promise.”

“That’s not the point,” Clint said. “I shouldn’t-I just wanted to let you know that you don’t need to worry about me bothering you anymore. I’m backing off.” Fenrir stared at Clint for a moment, not entirely sure what he was being told. This was not what he’d been expecting.

“Here,” Clint said. Fenrir tensed up as he reached into a pocket to toss something to Fenrir. “I stopped back in the library before I hit the vents.”

Fenrir looked down at what he’d just been given. It was a book, The Bourne Identity. He looked back up at Clint.

“The book you had before is part of a series,” Clint explained, barely meeting Fenrir’s eyes. “It won’t make sense if you don’t read this one first.”

“You read them?” Fenrir said surprised. 

“Yeah, they’re good,” Clint said. “The books are anyway; the movies kind of sucked. Missed the point of the books. The new one wasn’t bad.” Clint trailed off. Fenrir looked at the book and made sure not to let it touch the quickly melting ice.

“Enjoy,” Clint muttered as he turned and moved to the door.

“Do you feel better now?” He heard Fenrir ask quietly.

“What?”

“In the library, you said that you would feel better if you could hurt me. Did it work?” Fenrir asked.

Clint stared at him for a minute as he tried to figure out how to answer. 

“Not as much as I thought it would,” Clint said sadly, to himself as much as Fenrir. He turned and left the room. 

Clint didn’t get three steps down the hall before he found Bruce waiting for him.

“This the part where the Hulk throws me out a window for hurting his new friend?” Clint asked. The snarky humor that normally would have come with such a comment was noticeably lacking.

“Hulk hasn’t met Fenrir yet. I don’t know what he’ll think of all of this,” Bruce said.

“How long were you listening?” Clint asked.

“Long enough to hear you apologize,” Bruce said.

“Good,” Clint said, continuing down the hall. “You can fill Thor in when he gets back.”

“It might sound better coming from you,” Bruce said.

“I won’t be here,” Clint said, over his shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m pretty sure that what happened tonight shows that my judgment is compromised,” Clint said. “It’s probably best for everyone is I bow out for a while.”

“So you’re just going to run away?”

“No one’s going to want me on the team after this. I’m saving them the trouble of kicking me out.” Clint turned and looked at the door to Bruce’s exam room. “I’ve been enough of an ass lately, the last thing he needs is to see me wandering the tower.”

“You’re not leaving, Clint,” Clint was about to argue but Bruce interrupted. “If you leave then Fenrir is going to think that he broke up the team.” Once again Clint tried to argue but Bruce wouldn’t let him. “Fenrir gave you a chance for retribution and you took it. It was a bad decision on all sides. But in his mind you didn’t do anything wrong. So if you leave the team then he’s going to think that his actions, and how Thor responded, are his fault.

“So if you really are sorry for what you did, then you’ll suck it up and stay in the tower. Apologize to Thor and stay on the damn team.” Clint considered what Bruce was saying for a minute.

“Okay,” He said, sounding exhausted. Clint leaves to go back to his room and Bruce stops him one more time.

“He’s not what we thought he was,” Clint turned around to face Bruce. “I know that we all thought the same things about Fenrir when Thor brought him here but we were wrong. He’s not Loki; not even close. He’s nice.” Bruce said, almost wanting to laugh at how absurd the whole situation was. “If you sat down and talked to him you might even-”

“No,” Clint said sharply. “Bruce, I’m sorry for what I did today, and I’ll leave the guy alone from here on out. But I can’t like him. Don’t ask me to do that.” Clint turned and Bruce watched him walk away.

 

&&&&&&

The book was strange, to say the least. It seemed to be about a man with no idea who he was, waking up and trying to piece his life back together. Even just a few pages in it was beginning to seem like the answers might be worse than the not knowing. Fenrir was just getting interested in his book when he heard the telltale sounds of his uncle coming down the hall. He quickly put the book aside, not sure yet if he should tell Thor about the conversation he’d just had.

“Fenris!” Thor yelled as he came through the door. “I came back as quickly as I could manage.”

“How is Jane?” Fenrir asked. 

“Shouldn’t we be asking you that?” A voice said from the doorway. 

“Jane,” Fenrir said, straightening up in surprise. He hadn’t seen her since he’d arrived on earth. He hoped she wasn’t mad for all of the trouble that he’d caused her. “I’m feeling much better. Thank you for your concern.” He said, wishing that he weren’t soaked through with melted ice.

“Here,” Jane said, offering him a small brown bag. “I brought you a get well present.” Fenrir looked down at her hand and slowly reached out to take the bag. He reached inside and pulled out a small black box with a ribbon on it. He opened the box and saw that it contained a dozen small brown squares.

“They’re French chocolates,” Jane explained. “Supposedly the best you can get outside of Switzerland.”

“Thank you,” Fenrir said quietly, staring at the gift. “You, you didn’t have to do this.”

“I had some time to shop.” Jane said, smirking at Thor.

“You said that I could go,” Thor said, looking concerned. Jane ignored him and kept her focus on Fenrir. Fenrir didn’t want to insult Jane but, seeing as he’d already risked everything today, he may as well sate his curiosity. He could go back to being a coward tomorrow.

“Why are you giving me a present?” Fenrir asked.

“Midgardian custom,” Jane said, without missing a beat. Fenrir wasn’t quite sure why his being injured meant that he got chocolates but, after trying one, he decided he would never ever question Jane’s traditions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well now that Clint has apologized there should be no more problems for our team of heroes. Oh, hey, Loki. What are you doing on Asgard?  
> As always I live for reviews.


	15. Chapter 15.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So about posting this chapter in a week. I feel that all the blame should fall on Pepper, who refused to sound right.   
> I had a lot of trouble with this chapter and the longer I worked the more motivation problems I had. So rather than make you all wait another year I am posting the first half of chapter 15. 15.2 shall hopefully follow soon. Sadly this means that you all have to wait a little longer for the appearance of you know who. My apologies. I hope you still enjoy the chapter.

It had been Steve who’d originally insisted that the team eat a meal together at least once a week. He’d said that it was ridiculous to have them all living together and barely seeing each other outside of missions. Now, three days after Clint and Fenrir’s showdown, he was starting to understand Natasha’s preference for solitude.

Fenrir was out of bed and back to normal but for the rest of the team, well, the mood in the tower was pretty bleak. While Thor was willing to stand by Fenrir’s request to leave Clint alone, he still felt betrayed by what his teammate had done and, despite Clint’s attempts to apologize, there was still a constant rumble of thunder whenever the two of them were in a room. Not to mention that Clint seemed to be on the receiving end of far more static shocks than could be explained by natural causes. Although Thor insisted that it had no connection to him. 

Steve sat at the table, poking at the sad remains of his breakfast, and wondered what he was going to do to get the entire team back on speaking terms with each other. Thor was mad at Clint for hurting Fenrir. Natasha was annoyed that Thor wouldn’t accept Clint’s apology and forget the whole thing. Bruce was still mad that Natasha hadn’t thought what Clint did was wrong, and Steve was pretty disgusted with everyone. The only person in the building who seemed exempt from the crossfire was Tony. 

“So has anyone seen our resident pariah this morning?” Tony asked, moments after Thor had left the room.

“Are you talking about Clint?” Steve asked. Even after three years of living in the Tower, sometimes he still had trouble translating Tony to English. “I saw him on my way downstairs. He was doing something on the computer.”

“I know that it’s been miserable around here lately, but he has been spending a lot of time on the computer,” Tony said. “You don’t think he’s putting out personal ads for a new super hero team, do you?”

“He’s probably just doing something for S.H.I.E.L.D,” Bruce said, clearing up the remains of his breakfast and bringing them to the sink. 

“He doesn’t have any projects right now,” Natasha said, rising to leave the table. “Fury wants to make sure that he’ll be here while I’m gone.” Steve inwardly groaned at the reminder that Natasha was leaving. As if he wasn’t dealing with enough lately, Fury had announced the day before that they would soon be losing Natasha for two months while she did a deep cover mission. 

It wasn’t like this had never happened before. Clint and Natasha were still S.H.I.E.L.D agents and sometimes Fury had jobs that only they could do. Still, even if it was just for a few weeks, it was never easy to lose someone from the team. Even in the best situations the team would feel the loss of one of their members. With things in the tower as tense as they already were the mission couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Every time that Natasha went on a mission alone Clint would be on edge. It seemed obvious to Steve that it was because he was worried about his girlfriend but, because of the weird not-a-couple relationship that Clint and Natasha had, he would never admit it. Then to counter his totally nonexistent anxiety, Clint would start acting out. It usually fell somewhere between pranking his teammates and disappearing for days at a time to do who knows what. Given how miserable things had been in the tower lately Steve wasn’t sure how well anyone would respond if Clint rigged their intercoms to play Nsync songs while they were on missions. Like he’d done last year.

Steve wished again that Fury had found someone else to do this mission. Between the stress of losing a teammate and the chaos it would cause with Clint, they could really have used a break.

“So do we need to start worrying about him booking us for an Avengers on Ice show or is he just going to spend a few days at comic con?” Tony asked.

“He’ll be fine,” Natasha said. “Besides, the way things have been going lately, he could use a distraction.”

“Then maybe Fury should have sent him on the deep cover mission,” Bruce said.

“Fury thought that it would be better for him to stay here, considering everything,”

“Easy for him to say,” Tony said. “He doesn’t have to be around when the prank wars begin. You just know that whatever he’s doing on the computer will mean misery and pain for the rest of us.”

“You don’t think you’re being a little dramatic?” Natasha asked, not even remotely moved.

“You’re right,” Tony admitted. “He’s probably just searching online for red head porn to help him get through this trying time.” Before anyone could see how Natasha was going to respond to what Tony had said they received the call to Assemble. Steve went to suit up and within minutes he, Thor, and Black Widow were off to deal with a new threat

They hadn’t even gotten to the battle when they got a call telling them that someone else was attacking across town. Tony, Bruce and Clint were all going to be needed.

“What do we do about-”

“We can’t spare anyone,” Tony insisted over his com. “Jarvis tell Fenrir where we’re going.” Tony said as they all headed out. “He’ll be fine for an hour.” 

 

&&&&&&&

He was completely alone. For the first time since he’d come to Midgard he was the only person in the tower. It was a strange feeling and Fenrir wasn’t sure what to do with it. It wasn’t as if he’d never been alone before. He’d spent the majority of his life alone in a cell so, really, this should be nothing new. But being in the tower, with the freedom to move about and do whatever he liked, made it different.

Like so many of the things that he was relearning, he had no idea what to do with it. He also couldn’t shake the belief that the Avengers were offering him a new level of trust, by leaving him without a keeper. So, even though he didn’t really have any desire to do so, he left his room and began to wander.

There was something not right about the tower with no one in it. Fenrir thought, as he headed for the kitchen. It was too quiet. Without Thor’s booming voice surrounding him the rooms seemed bigger than ever.

Fenrir was quickly shocked from his thoughts as he heard the elevator open at the end of the hall. This couldn’t be right, there couldn’t be someone coming, everyone was gone!

“Jarvis, where’s Tony?” He heard a woman’s voice ask.

“Mister Stark and the others have been called into the city. There was mention of fighting ninjas,” Jarvis said. “Would you like me to inform him of your arrival?” 

“No, I’ll just wait for him upstairs,” She said, her voice beginning to fade. Fenrir took a deep breath and thought about what to do. The way she had talked to Jarvis had made it obvious that she was allowed to be here, but who was she? Was it another member of S.H.I.E.L.D? Whoever it was Fenrir was sure that he did not want to meet them alone. He slid down the hallway and headed back toward his room. 

A few minutes later and Fenrir was horrified to realize that, in his hurry to get away, he had taken the wrong hallway and was in a part of the Tower he’d never been before. Fenrir hurried to go back the way he’d come and found himself face to face with a tall red headed woman.

“Oh,” She said with a small jump. Fenrir wanted to run as fast as he could but found that he had lost the ability to move his legs.

“Hello,” Fenrir said awkwardly, wondering again who this woman was. Fenrir also wondered if she was able to read his mind when she began explaining.

“My name’s Pepper,” She said with a smile. “I’m Tony’s fiancé.”

“Hello,” Fenrir repeated, feeling like a fool but not knowing what else to do, and suddenly realizing that he had no idea how to introduce himself. On Asgard you introduced yourself with your name and title, but what was that now. No longer a prince of Asgard, was he simply Thor’s nephew? Reminding people that he was Loki’s son only seemed to get him into trouble; so what was left?

“I am- my name is Fenrir,” Fenrir finally said.

“I’m assuming you’re Thor’s guest from Asgard,” She said.

“How did you know that?” Fenrir asked.

“The head to toe leather was a bit of a hint,” She said, glancing at Fenrir’s Asgardian clothes before walking the rest of the way down the hall. “Tony mentioned that you were staying here. And speaking of Tony, do you think they’ll be back in time to help me unpack? Or did he schedule the ninjas to last until I’m done?”

“There is really no way to tell,” Jarvis replied. “Although it is unlikely that Sir will be in a rush to return, since he does not know that you are arriving today.”

“This date’s been set for weeks,” Pepper said.

“A fact I tried to remind him of several times. However he insisted that you weren’t coming until next month.” Fenrir watched the back and forth between Pepper and the voice in awe. Pepper shook her head and turned to face Fenrir.

“Looks like you’ve been promoted,” Pepper said. “Any chance you’re up for helping me unpack a few crates?” Fenrir stared at her for a moment and then nodded quickly. Pepper gave him a studying look for a moment.

“You’ll have to forgive our guest,” Jarvis said. “I believe that Fenrir is a bit shy, compared to our usual Asgardian visitors.”

“Shy is an improvement over Fandral,” Pepper said, motioning for Fenrir to follow her down the hallway.

“You, you know Fandral?” Fenrir asked.

“He and the other warriors Three came to stay with Thor once,” Pepper explained. “It was certainly a memorable visit. Stark Industries had to deal with a record number of sexual harassment complaints and paternity suits. And this is a company that Tony founded.”

“Paternity suits?” Fenrir asked.

“Thankfully that one turned out to be a false alarm,” Pepper said as they continued down the hall. “We ended up having to pay out a lot of settlements for the others. Fandral had some very unique ideas about what counted as a friendly greeting.”

“He gave me a horse once,” Fenrir said, wanting to be able to contribute something other than silence to their conversation. “He started to anyway.” Fenrir followed Pepper the rest of the way down the hall and then took the elevator up to her floor. The sight that greeted them as the doors opened was a mountain of boxes. Pepper stormed into the center of the room where there was a collection of furniture. 

“Tony was supposed to have this done by the time I moved in,” Pepper said. 

“I tried reminding him,” Jarvis said. “But he kept insisting that he had weeks to get it done.”

“He could have at least had the movers put the furniture away instead of just leaving it all out here,” Pepper said.

“In Sir’s defense, there is a team scheduled to come at the end of the week,” Jarvis said.

“Well,” Pepper said, turning to Fenrir. “We can at least get this room done.” Pepper was pleasantly surprised at how quickly moving furniture could be when you worked with an Asgardian. Just twenty minutes of work later and the room was almost finished.

“Don’t let Tony know how quickly you can do all this,” Pepper said, surveying the room. “Next thing you know he’ll be designing the logos for an Asgardian Moving Service.” Fenrir stared at her for a moment before asking what he should do next.

“I’d love to get a few of these crates open,” She said. “Last thing, I promise.” She pointed out a long, thin crate she wanted to open first and went to look for a crow bar. Just as she found where the movers had left it she heard the unmistakable sound of wood splintering.

“I guess you don’t need this,” Pepper said, staring at the crate Fenrir had just ripped open.

Fenrir began to apologize but he was stopped short. He couldn’t move. He was looking at the most incredible thing he’d ever seen. Part of him was aware that Pepper was saying something to him but he couldn’t tear his attention away from the item in the crate. Pepper looked over his shoulder and saw what had him so entranced.

“It’s a Jackson Pollok,” She said. “Tony gave away his entire art collection a few years ago when he thought he was dying. I’ve been buying it back piece by piece ever since.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Fenrir whispered.

“Not a lot of modern art on Asgard?”

“Nothing like- no,” Fenrir said, still partially in a trance.

“This one is one of my favorites,” Pepper said, looking affectionately at the painting. “Tony likes his Springs paintings. I keep telling him it’s for the street and not the season but-”

“There are more of them?” Fenrir asked, turning around. Pepper now had his full attention. She gestured to another large crate leaning against the far wall.

“Help me get it open,” Pepper said.

 

&&&&&&&&

 

“It’s all in your head, Tony,” Bruce said. He was starting to feel more exhausted by their conversation than by their battle.

“You’re all against me,” Tony said with a shrug.

“The guy was a B-List villain. They aren’t that creative at the best of times,” Clint offered.

“Bronze Baron, was wearing a metal suit,” Tony said. “That suit was spray painted red. Is there anyone else you know who wears a red metal suit?”

“Alright, so he ripped off your idea. That doesn’t mean that he was trying to steal your identity,” Bruce repeated. 

“And we took him down in less than twenty minutes. Hell, the cleanup took longer than the battle which, in my book, makes you more of a cosplayer than a real villain,” Clint said, sitting down.

“See, even Clint agrees with me,” Bruce said.

“Then again,” Clint said. “That Black Sabbath t-shirt he had on under the suit was a pretty big coincidence.”

“Everyone knows that’s my band!” Tony said.

“You’re not helping,” Bruce said to Clint. “And Tony, for the last time, Black Sabbath did not write the song “I am Iron Man” for you.”

“Alright, first off, yes they did,” Tony insisted. “And second this isn’t about my, admittedly, incredible taste in music. This is about intellectual property. My intellectual property that everyone suddenly wants to turn into some cheap knock off.”

“Give me your helmet,” Bruce said.

“You too?!” Tony asked. 

“It’s always the quiet ones,” Clint said

“I’m calling Steve,” Bruce explained. “Seeing if they need us to come help out before we head back to the tower.” Clint shrugged and continued listening to Tony explain the conspiracy against him while Bruce took a few minutes to call the rest of the team.

“They’re just about done,” Bruce said as he walked back over. “Apparently Thor’s finishing off the last of them and Steve doesn’t think it should take more than a few minutes.”

“It’s nice to see Thor getting back to his roots,” Tony said, taking back his helmet. “Not that I’m not a huge fan of the family-man side he’s been showing lately. But it’s nice to see the berserker rage every once in a while.”

“We should be heading back,” Bruce said.

“What’s the rush, you forget to walk the wolf-man before we left?” Tony asked. Bruce just glared at him and Tony switched his com over to the Tower line.

“Jarvis, how’s Rover enjoying having the whole place to himself?” Tony asked. 

“I believe that he was a bit upset by the arrival of Miss Potts, but he seems to have gotten over that,” Jarvis said.

“Pepper’s there? What’s Pepper doing there? She’s not supposed to move in until next month,” Tony said, confusion etched on his face.

“I am sorry sir, but she was in fact scheduled to move in today,” Jarvis replied.

“Why didn’t you warn me?!” Tony yelled.

“I tried, sir,” Jarvis said. “Repeatedly.”

“Jarvis,” Bruce interrupted. “How is it going there; really?”

“It would seem that your young guest and Miss Potts are getting along quite well,” Jarvis said. “After the initial confusion the two of them withdrew to her private floor.”

“Wait, they’re together?” Tony asked having suddenly gone white.

“Indeed, they have been on her private floor almost an hour,” Jarvis said.

“An hour!?” Tony demanded, his growing panic not lost on his teammates.

“What have they been doing there for an hour?” Clint asked Bruce. “The guy doesn’t talk.”

“Jarvis, I need a visual,” Tony said.

“I feel that I should remind you that Miss Potts declined to have cameras installed on her floor,” Jarvis said.

“This is bad. I need to get back to the Tower now!” Tony said, slamming down his faceplate.

“Tony, I’m sure everything’s fine,” Bruce said.

“Don’t you get it, Banner?” Tony demanded. “They’ve been together for an hour. Ten to fifteen minutes could just be polite but an hour is friendly. That means that they’re talking.”

“I’m confused,” Clint said.

“Tony, why can’t Pepper talk to Fenrir?” Bruce asked. 

“I might have left out a few small details when I told Pepper that he was staying with us,” Tony said, rushing over to the edge of the roof.

“Details like?” Bruce asked.

“Last names,” Tony said, as he jumped off of the building and took off.

 

&&&&&&&&&

 

“It’s not so much about the visual,” Pepper explained. “The point was to capture energy and movement in a way that hadn’t been-” Pepper was interrupted as Tony, still in his suit, smashed through her door.

“Pepper,” Tony said, as he strode over to the couch. “I see you’ve met our new house guest.”

“You just destroyed my door,” Pepper said, standing up to go look at the splinters covering her carpet. 

“Clashed with the room, it had to go,” The couch groaned as Tony claimed Pepper’s now vacant seat. “Really this whole area is a complete disaster. It’s going to need a complete do over. And I think that it would be best if you just headed back to California until all of the necessary improvements are made.”

“You’re kicking me out?” Pepper asked, torn between stunned and annoyed.

“I’m doing this for you. I don’t want you to have to live in a place that isn’t worthy of you,” Tony said, pulling off his mask and tossing it across the room.

“So the smashing down my door, that was the start of renovations?” Pepper asked. 

“I feel like you’re getting really hung up on this door thing,” Tony said, holding up his hand in defense.

“I think I have the right to be a little upset when the first time I see you in weeks is you destroying my floor.”

“I was in a hurry- to see you,” Tony quickly added. “I’d think that the first time we’ve seen each other in weeks you’d be a little happier to see me.”

“Well I’d think that a genius, billionaire, philanthropist, would be able to remember something as simple as a move in date. So I guess we’re both confused,” Pepper said.

“You forgot the playb-...,” Tony quickly stopped himself from finishing his sentence. “Let’s not argue about who forgot what. The important thing is that you’re here.” Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony.

“Does this mean that you’ve changed your mind about me leaving?” She said with a smile.

“Nope, not possible,” Tony said. “Besides, why would you want to stay here? This place is a mess. Look there’s boxes everywhere.” 

“That’s because we just spent the last hour unpacking everything,” Pepper explained, beginning to feel annoyed again. “Which we wouldn’t have had to do if you’d had the movers come on time.”

“Alright, first off, the move in confusion was really Jarvis’s fault,” Tony explained. “And second, who is we?” 

Pepper gave Tony an incredulous look before pointing to the spot next to him on the couch. He turned to his left and saw Fenrir sitting with a look of amusement at Tony’s lack of attention. Suddenly remembering the reason for his rush home, Tony bolted up.

“So, like I was saying before, it’s probably best if you just head back to California,” Tony said, walking over to Pepper. He wrapped an arm around her waist and began walking her to the door. “I’ll get the floor finished and you can move back in sometime next month.”

“Tony, Fenrir’s been here for almost two months. If you haven’t gotten around to telling me who he is yet I doubt that another month is going to make a difference. And I really don’t feel like moving back and forth for the next year while you try and find a way to slip Loki’s son into casual conversation,” Tony stared at Pepper in shock for a moment before turning to Fenrir for an explination.

“It didn’t seem right not to tell her,” Fenrir said. “Since we’re both going to be living here.”

“I can explain,” Tony said. Pepper stared at him and waited for him to continue. “Thor found his nephew when he went back to Asgard and then-”

“I know why he’s here, Tony,” Pepper said. “He already told me that. I want to know why you thought you could hide it.”

“You told her about all of that too?” Tony asked. Fenrir nodded his response. “You two talk about anything else?” 

“We talked about art a bit,” Fenrir offered. 

“Huh, art,” Tony said, before turning back to Pepper. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I had every intention of telling you before you moved in. And I would have if Jarvis had reminded me.”

“You were reminded, sir,” Jarvis interrupted. “And I have the recorded evidence to substantiate my claim.”

“You recorded it?” Tony asked, feeling stunned.

“I had reason to believe that you may attempt to use me as your scapegoat,” Jarvis said. “I could not allow for it to appear that I was unable to fulfil my duties, so I made the necessary arrangements.” Tony stood for a moment stunned at the fact that one of his creations had betrayed him.

“That’s it,” Tony said, regaining his focus. “Next time I make an AI I’m excluding any free will that could be used against me.”

“I’ll make the necessary alterations to the Ultron program, sir,” Jarvis said. 

While Tony had been arguing with Jarvis Pepper had gone to rejoin Fenrir on the couch. Tony nodded his approval to his virtual butler and brought his attention back to his fiancé.

“So…,” Tony began. “Did he tell you about the time Thor wore a wedding dress?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to beg for reviews, but it really does help keep me motivated. See you all soon.


	16. Chapter 15.2  The Chapter Continues

 

                                               

 

            It had been Pepper’s idea. Sure she’d never actually said the thoughts out loud, but that was irrelevant. When it all came down to it the whole concept had definitely begun with Pepper. Or so Tony told himself as he headed down the hall to Fenrir’s room.

            Sure he might have been the one to actually put the thoughts together. And maybe he was the one who was going to act on them. But he and Pepper had been together long enough for her to know how his mind worked and this had definitely been her idea. Why else would she have made such a point to tell Tony how much Fenrir loved her paintings? Knowing that Tony had over a dozen paintings just like it sitting in storage. She may as well have been holding up a sign.

            Tony smiled as he knocked on Fenrir’s door. Confident in the fact that his plan had Pepper’s complete support. Fenrir answered on the third knock.

            “Hey, White Fang, what are you up to today?” Tony asked with a smile.

            “I’m just reading a book,” Fenrir said. He looked at Tony suspiciously and Tony quickly saw his mistake. He’d used ‘White Fang’ before. Not one of his finer moments. But really only so many wolf characters out there. He made a mental note to look up the names of the Game of Thrones wolves and pushed into Fenrir’s room.

            “In here?” Tony asked, as he stepped inside.

            “Yes,” Fenrir said, spinning around to keep Tony in sight.

            “Wow,” Tony said, taking in the room. “You really haven’t done much with the place. If I didn’t know you were using it I’d think this was just another guest room. Even Thor hung a few tapestries.” Fenrir stood looking at Tony and at a loss for what to say.

            “I know, I know, my taste in furniture is flawless, but this is your room,” Tony continued. “You could at least toss around some pelts or one of those creepy antler heads that Thor has hanging on the walls.”

            “Thor brought those things with him from Asgard. I don’t own anything like that,” Fenrir said, watching as Tony continued surveying his room.

            “That’s what stores or, I guess in your case, online shopping were made for,” Tony said, continuing to circle the room. “I could get you a credit card, and Pepper could set you up with that website where she orders all my furniture from. You’d have this place looking like Medieval Fantasy land in no time.”

            “That’s…that’s unnecessary,” Fenrir said. “It’s very generous of you but, I’m perfectly comfortable as I am.” Tony could see that Fenrir was getting more and more uncomfortable with Tony in his room and decided to move in for the kill.

            “Well you have to have something,” Tony said, sitting down in a chair. “Otherwise it’s not your room. You’re just in a guest room all the time. Then we have all these freeloader issues, and it becomes a whole big thing.” Fenrir just looked confused now and Tony quickly jumped back on track. B”ut if you don’t want to go the furniture route there are other options. All this empty space, a couple of paintings would be perfect.” Tony looked over at Fenrir. He had his complete attention now.

            “You liked the one’s in Pepper’s room, right?” Tony asked. “You know that I have about a dozen of those in storage. I could have one sent up. Turn this place into a gallery in no time.”

            “I can’t ask you to do that,” Fenrir said, clearly wishing the opposite.

            “Sure you can,” Tony said with a shrug.

            “Pepper said… I know that those paintings are valuable,” Fenrir said.

            “Why do so many people have trouble grasping the ‘obscenely rich’ concept?” Tony asked. “I had the same problem with Steve when he first moved in. Seriously, I could probably buy the Louvre and still have money for a few overpriced souvenirs in the gift shop.” While Fenrir didn’t quite understand everything Tony meant, he was clearly hooked.

            “I could just… have one?” Fenrir asked. Tony again offered a shrug. Fenrir continued to hesitate and Tony moved in for the kill.

            “Of course if the free gifts are still making you feel uncomfortable, we could always just trade for it,” Tony offered, trying to make it sound like the idea had just occurred to him.

            “Trade?” Fenrir said hesitantly. “I… don’t think I have anything that would be worth a painting.”

            “You’re wrong there,” Tony said, looking down to Fenrir’s wrists. “You have those.” Fenrir immediately slapped his hands over his bracers.

            “I can’t give you these,” Fenrir said, looking anxious. “I, I can’t even take them off.”

            “I’m not asking you to take them off,” Tony said, trying to explain what he wanted before Fenrir fell into a full on panic. “But I would like to take a look at them.”

            “Why?” Fenrir asked, still holding tightly to the metal.

            “Because you and your dad aren’t the only people around who use magic,” Tony explained. “There are actually a few wizard wannabes who have tried to kill us. Having something that can stop them in their tracks would be useful.”

            “We wouldn’t need to take them off,” Tony repeated. “Just come down to the lab and let me run a few tests. See if there is anything in the cuffs that I could recreate. A onetime deal, a couple of hours, and then we’re done. Do me this favor and I’ll make sure you get a painting. You’ll be getting paid to do sit around and do nothing. It’s the American dream.” Fenrir continued to stare at Tony.

            “We could even bring your buddy Bruce down with us,” Tony added. “Keep you company.”

            “It would just be one time?” Fenrir asked. “And…then I’d get a painting?” Tony just smiled.

            Finding Bruce took all of a second and soon they were off to the lab for some tests. Even if Bruce did seem to be somewhat unhappy with the way that the deal had been made. Which, honestly, Tony could not understand. If he could figure out even a small percentage of how magic suppression worked then all of their lives would be easier. Fenrir had agreed and it wasn’t like Tony wasn’t paying him. Frankly it was a much better deal than the one he had going with S.H.I.E.L.D.

            Tony hooked the bracers scanners and, since Fenrir and Bruce were talking about yoga or something, was free to indulge his curiosity.

            Two hours later and he was running out of tests he could do without either removing the cuffs or potentially harming Fenrir. Adding to that the fact that Fenrir was getting a bit fidgety after having to hold his arms out straight for so long. Tony knew that he needed to wrap things up but there was one last thing that he needed.

            For something that was meant to prevent Fenrir from using, what was believed to be, dangerous magic the cuffs were surprisingly ornate. While the actual material was something clearly not from earth, the appearance was silver and the cuffs were circled with raised designs that looked like vines. Tony couldn’t help but wonder if these were the same cuffs that everyone would get or if Frigga had had a hand in getting something a little nicer for her grandson.

            Either way the cuffs were covered with the designs and Tony was sure that it wouldn’t hurt the designs at all if he were to remove a small piece. The metal was soft enough for Tony to take a sample and this way he could do more tests. Including several that couldn’t be done while connected to a living person.

            Tony grabbed a small hand held laser, picked a piece of the design that seemed separated from the rest, and began to cut. The next thing he knew he was across the room.

            “AAHHHHH!!!” Fenrir screamed as he jerked out of his chair. Tony and Bruce watched in shock as Fenrir crashed, unconscious, to the floor.

                                   

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

                                   

           

            _“That can’t be true,” Fenrir said, feeling sick. “I would never hurt Thor.”_

_“And yet according to the prophesy that’s exactly what you’re going to do.” The man said, leaning against the wall. Not long ago he’d come into Fenrir’s cell to remove the collar from around his neck. He’d then proceeded to tell him about a prophesy that had been made to Odin when he was a child._

_“Odin is telling all of this to Thor now,” He continued. “If he were a smart man then he’d give up on this plan and leave you here.”_

_“He won’t,” Fenrir insisted, as much to himself as the man. “He promised that he would take me to Midgard with him.”_

_“That was a promise made before he knew the entire truth. But then, you’re probably right. Thor is known for displaying loyalty in the oddest of places,” The man said. “Which is why you should do the wise thing yourself and tell him to leave.”_

_“What?”_

_“Like you said, Thor made you a promise, and he’ll want to keep it. Even knowing that you are fated to destroy him, he will want to stand by you. So when he comes you should tell him that_ you’ve _changed your mind and that he should leave without you.”_

_“No, I…I’m going with Thor,” Fenrir said._

_“The best place for you is in this cell. How long do you really think that you’ll be able to resist the prophesy? You know what you are. Here there will be no chance of your losing control again. You would never have to fear betraying those that you care about._

_“Things are different than they were before. Frigga is aware that you are alive and she would never allow for you to be treated as you were on Svartalfheim. I’m sure that she could even make your life here very comfortable. You would be well cared for, and Asgard and **Thor** would be safe from you.”_

_“No,” Fenrir whispered to himself._

_“I’m sure that going with Thor would seem preferable. It is always possible that you could counter you fate. Others have before you; it’s not unheard of. But it is a risk. The offer I am giving you, to stay here in comfort and safety, is only an option if you choose it now. If you choose Midgard, fail, and are returned to us then you won’t be coming back to a cell. And if you were to lose control, and kill the son of Odin… I can promise you, that your death will not be quick.”_

_Fenrir stood in silence for a moment thinking about what he’s just been told. All he wanted was to get out of this cell but what if this man was right? What if he lost control again? Was it really worth the risk for the chance to live a life on_ Midgard _of all places? Fenrir leaned against the stone walls for support. He didn’t know what to do, but was sure that his entire future now depended on this one decision._

_“Ultimately the choice is yours,” The man said. “But I would think very carefully about what you do next.” Fenrir pushed himself away from the wall as he made his decision._

_“I will never hurt Thor.” Fenrir said. “I’m going to Midgard.”_

_“Well then,” The man said waving his hand in front of Fenrir’s neck. “I hope you’ll be able to behave yourself.” As he finished speaking the collar fell from around Fenrir’s neck._

_ &&&&&_

 

            Once again Fenrir was in the new sick bay, but this time he wasn’t waking up.

            “The designs are part of what powers the gauntlets,” Thor had explained. “As such they were designed to incapacitate anyone who tried to remove them. Much like the gauntlets themselves.”

            “Thor I’m sorry,” Tony said. “I thought they were just decoration.”

            “He should have woken up by now,” Thor said, barely even registering that Tony had spoken.

            In the two hours since Bruce and Tony had brought Fenrir to the sick bay the entire team had gathered. So far Bruce hadn’t been able to do much more than make Fenrir comfortable. He’d tried dumping a bucket of ice on Fenrir, on the off chance that it would help, but so far it hadn’t done anything other than soaking his blankets.

            “I swear, I never thought it would hurt him,” Tony tried again.

            “We know it was an accident,” Steve said.

            “Yes,” Thor said, taking a second to look away from Fenrir. “You have been a true friend to Fenrir since his arrival. I know that you did not intentionally cause him harm.” Despite Thor’s assurance Tony couldn’t shake the guilt for what he’d done and found himself sitting beside Thor as they all waited to see what would happen next. Suddenly Fenrir jolts up in bed with a yelp.

            “Fenris!” Thor said, hurrying to his nephew.

            “Thor,” Fenrir said, looking around. “Are we going?”

            “Going?” Thor asked, looking around at his teammates for help.

            “You didn’t change your mind did you?” Fenrir asked, looking sick. “You’re still taking me to Midgard, right?”

            “Midgard? Fenrir, you’re confused, we-” Thor said.

            “Please don’t leave me here,” Fenrir interrupted. “I know that Odin told you about the prophesy but he’s wrong. I would never hurt you. Never.”

            “Fenris, you need to calm down,” Thor said.

            “You promised,” Fenrir said, his voice verging on desperation. “You promised to take me with you. Please don’t let them lock me up again.”

            “Fenris!” Thor shouted, grabbing his nephew by the shoulders. “Listen to me. You aren’t on Asgard anymore. We left the dungeons weeks ago. I know that you are confused, but you need to calm down.” Thor’s commands seemed to have the desired effect and Fenrir’s breathing began to slow.

            “Do you know where you are?” Thor asked, after a few minutes.

            “The tower,” Fenrir whispered. “I’m sorry about that. I, I thought that I was back on Asgard.”

            “I never knew that Odin told you about the prophesy,” Thor admitted.

            “He didn’t. The man who came to remove the collar said-” Fenrir stopped to look at Thor. “I meant what I said. I’d never hurt you. The propehesy… it’s a mistake, it has to be.”

            “I know that,” Thor said, wrapping his arms around his nephew. “I trust you.”

            It took a while but Thor was finally able to calm Fenrir down and get him to go to sleep. Once he left the room he found the entire team waiting for him.

            “I think you need to explain a few things, Thor,” Natasha said.

            “Starting with why we all waited over two hours for him to wake up only for you to tell him to go to bed,” Tony said. “Am I the only one bothered by that?” He asked, when he saw everyone staring at him.

            “What did he mean about a prophesy?” Steve asked, ignoring Tony.

            “I was only made aware of it shortly before I left Asgard,” Thor began. “When Fenrir was a child a seer came to Odin with a prophesy. She said that one day Fenrir would grow powerful beyond control. That he would stand before the greatest warrior in the realm and bring him to his knees. And that he would bring Ragnarok to Asgard.” Thor couldn’t help a slight cringe at the last part.

            “I’m guessing by what Fenrir said in there, that the greatest warrior in the realm is supposed to be you,” Bruce said.

            “Obviously,” Thor said. “But it means nothing. Prophesies are like riddles. They rarely mean what they seem. As I said before, I trust Fenrir. Now, if you will allow, I’d like to return to my nephew.” With a nod from Captain America Thor headed back into the sick bay.

            “I can’t believe Thor wouldn’t tell us about something like that,” Natasha said, once Thor was out of earshot.

            “Can you blame him?” Bruce said. “Look at how much trouble he had just convincing us to let him move in in the first place. Why add in a death prediction.”

            “Bruce is right,” Steve said. “If we’d known about this when he’d first brought Fenrir here then we probably wouldn’t have let him stay. Which is why I’m glad I didn’t know.”

            “Here here,” Tony said. “We all know that I am by far the most generous person here. But even I would have had a little trouble inviting him to stay if I’d known that he was destined to kill me.”

            “You mean Thor,” Natasha said.

            “Were you listening to Thor?” Tony asked. “He said the “greatest warrior in **the land** ”. They aren’t in Asgard anymore.”

            “So you think it was talking about you?” Steve asked.

            “Why not? Thor isn’t the default greatest anymore,”

            “If we’re really considering this then my bet would be the Hulk,” Natasha said.

            “Tony does have a point,” Bruce said. “It didn’t say Thor by name. It could have been talking about anyone.”

            “It only said warrior?” Clint asked.

            “What?” Steve said.

            “The prophesy, did it really just say warrior, and not soldier or hero or anything?”

            “Thor said warrior,” Tony said.

            “So technically the person could be the crazy serial killer warrior?” Clint asked. “Is that right?”

            “I guess, what’s your point?” Natasha said.

            “My point is that Odin’s a psycho. Did it really never even occur to him that Fenrir might be the hero in the story?”

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

            She could have gone immediately, Lord knows that Tony had wanted her to, but Pepper let three days go by before she went looking for Fenrir. Given all the chaos of his afternoon with Tony and Thor’s constant presence afterward, she’d thought that Fenrir could use some time to relax. But three days, she thought, was more than enough.

            As she knocked on his door she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the thought of her fiancé. To think that Tony had actually thought that she would approve of him bribing Fenrir into tests. As if Tony hadn’t been itching to figure out a way to get Fenrir down to his lab since he’d first seen what he’d had on his wrists.

            “How are you feeling?” She asked, when Fenrir opened the door.

            “I’m well,” Fenrir said, stepping aside to let Pepper in. “I’ve been fine. Thor, he worries about me too much.” Fenrir said.

            “He just cares about you,” Pepper said, noticing that, despite his objections, the mention of Thor’s concern still made him smile. “I was wondering if you were up for a trip with me.”

            Fenrir looked at her with confusion and Pepper was quick to explain.

            “The painting that Tony promised you,” Pepper said. “He wasn’t exaggerating when he said that he has dozens of them in storage. I thought we could go down to the warehouse and you could pick out the one you want.”

            “I can still have one?” Fenrir asked.

            “According to Tony, I’m supposed to give you every one that you look at for more than thirty seconds. But I think one is probably better to start with,” Pepper said.

            “One is, one is perfect,” Fenrir said, unable to suppress an enormous grin.

            “Get dressed and then we can go,” Pepper said, turning to leave.

            “I am dressed,” Fenrir said. Pepper looked back and realized that what she’d thought was some sort of Asgardian sleeping tunic was actually just a shirt. Or really a dress, judging by the way it was hanging off of Fenrir.

            “Is that one of Thor’s shirts?” Pepper asked, recognizing the design.

            “When I returned to Asgard I didn’t have many possessions,” Fenrir explained, blushing. “Frigga began to have outfits made for me, but I was there such a short time that only a few were finished.”

            “So when you aren’t rotating through your Asgardian clothes, you just wear Thor’s things?” Pepper asked.

            “They’re nice clothes,” Fenrir defended. “And I just wear them when I’m alone in my room so it makes no difference.”

            “No,” Pepper said, looking him up and down.

            “No, what?” Fenrir asked.

            “You’re coming with me,” Pepper said, striding out of the room.

            “Where are we going?” Fenrir asked.

            “Follow,” Pepper called from down the hall. Realizing that he really had no choice, Fenrir hurried to obey.

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

 

 

            “Are you sure it’s alright for me to be wearing Tony’s clothes?” Fenrir asked, pulling at the neck of the shirt Pepper had told him to put on.

            “You needed to wear something. And I wasn’t about to take you out in public in Thor’s clothes.” Pepper said, pulling Fenrir behind her.

            “There wasn’t anything wrong with Thor’s clothes,” Fenrir repeated.

            “One strong breeze and you wouldn’t have been wearing them anymore,” Pepper said. “And you won’t need to wear Tony’s clothes much longer. Now what do you want to look for next, shirts or pants?”

            “This really isn’t necessary,” Fenrir repeated for the fifth time since they’d entered the store.

            “Fenrir, how long do you plan on staying on Earth?” Pepper asked.

            “I, I was banished. I’m here for the rest of my life,” Fenrir said.

            “Which, since you’re not human, is a very long time,” Pepper said stopping to examine a display of collared shirts. “Three outfits and a bunch of Thor’s hand me downs aren’t going to cut it.”

            “I don’t like making you pay for so much,” Fenrir admitted. Pepper stopped to hold a shirt up in front of Fenrir before shaking her head and putting it back.

            “Well, you’re in luck,” Pepper said. “I’m not paying for it. Tony is.” Pepper was relieved to finally get a smile out of Fenrir and continued her search.

            “If you don’t have a preference I say we start with pants,” Pepper said. “It’s an improvement over Thor’s clothes but you still have about five inches on Tony.” Fenrir looked down at the pants that Pepper had given him.

            “I always thought Tony was taller,” Fenrir said.

            “It’s the shoes,” Pepper admitted. “How do you feel about jeans?”

            Pepper hadn’t played with dolls since elementary school but over the next hour she began to remember why she’d loved them in the first place. There was just something strangely satisfying in taking what was essentially a human blank canvas and making it look good. And, though she would never admit it, she enjoyed occasionally spending massive amounts of Tony’s money. She was only human.

            Even Fenrir seemed to be enjoying himself a little more as the day went on. Though, since he wasn’t familiar with Earth styles, he was mostly deferring to Pepper’s judgment. Things were going well, until a salesman came over and tried to push a big ticket item off on Fenrir.

            The biggest problem with using a credit card with a Stark name on it was that, inevitably, someone will try and unload the most expensive item in the store. In this case it was a leather trench coat. Now, Pepper didn’t have anything against leather. But when you covered it in chains and strips of silver then you begin to leave the realm of fashion and border on armor. Or S&M depending on how you wear it. Thankfully, judging by the look Fenrir was giving the coat, he wasn’t any more impressed with it than she was.

            Pepper sent the salesman away where he no doubt went to find something else insanely expensive to offer them.

            “Maybe we should switch over to shirts before he comes back,” Pepper said.

            “And miss out on the next display?” Fenrir said with a smile. “I was actually growing quite fond of the coat.”

            “I know I told you that you could pick out what you liked but, no you are not getting that coat,” Pepper said. “Besides, I think the resemblance is strong enough without you looking like you’re heading into battle.” Pepper continued walking for a moment before realizing that Fenrir was no longer following her.

            “Fenrir, what’s wrong?” Pepper asked.

            “You hate him too,” Fenrir said, looking sadly at his feet.

            “Fenrir,” Pepper said, realizing what it was that she’d said.

            “Of course you would. My father’s the villain so that makes sense.” Fenrir said, forcing a smile. “You said I needed shirts?”

            “Fenrir, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

            “It makes no difference,” Fenrir said, briefly glancing up at her before lowering his eyes back to his feet. “When I told you who I was you didn’t seem upset so… I thought maybe you didn’t hate him as much as the others. The mistake was mine.”

            “It must have been strange,” Pepper began, pulling Fenrir out of sight of salesmen and other shoppers. “Finally getting your freedom and finding out how much everything had changed when you were gone.”

            “I always-” Fenrir began. “I never knew, when I was on Svartalfheim, that my family thought that I was dead. The guards tried telling me that I’d been cast off but I never believed that. I knew that they must have tricked my father somehow. I used to dream that one day my father would find out where I was and that he would come to bring me home. Now I’m finally free and he… he isn’t here.”

            “I know that he has done terrible things to your world,” Fenrir continued. “And I’m so sorry for that, but he’s my father. I-” Fenrir stalled over his last words.

            “You miss him,” Pepper substituted.

            “He isn’t, I mean he wasn’t always like what you think,” Fenrir said. “He was a good father. He loved me…At least I thought he did.”

            “I’m sure he did,” Pepper said.

            “It’s irrelevant,” Fenrir said, his voice hardening. “Any feelings that my father may have had for me have clearly been lost to time.”

            “Fenrir, I’m sure he didn’t just forget you,” Pepper said.

            “Then where is he?” Fenrir asked. “I’ve been on Midgard for almost two months. Out of Svartalfheim longer. So why hasn’t he come looking for me?”

            Pepper looked at Fenrir for a moment and tried to figure out what to say. This was by far one of the most surreal conversations that she’d ever had. While it was true that she didn’t **hate** Loki, she was far from being a fan. He’d tried to kill Tony almost a dozen times and he was actively working to take over the planet. He wasn’t someone she ever wanted to come face to face with. However seeing Fenrir standing broken hearted at the thought that he may have lost his father left her with only one option for how to respond.

            “No one’s seen Loki for almost a year. We don’t know where he is, what he’s doing, or if he’d have any way of knowing what has been going on here.” Pepper said. “I’m sure that when he knows that you’re back, he’ll come straight here.” Pepper fought the impulse to cringe at the thought of Loki making a beeline for the Tower. At least the thought seemed to be having the desired effect on Fenrir.

            “Do you really think so?” Fenrir asked.

            “I think-” Pepper was interrupted before she could finish.

            “You finally get him out of the Tower and you take him shopping?” Tony said, walking over to them.

            “I thought you had a meeting?” Pepper said.

            “Some mandatory shareholders meeting,” Tony said. “Like that’s even a thing. Besides I had to hurry down here when I realized what you were doing. There is no way I’m missing out on Shaggy Dog dress-up day.”

            “How did you even know what we were doing?” Pepper demanded.

            “Oh, I had Jarvis put an automatic alert on all my credit cards if they’re used to buy men’s clothes,” Tony explained. “I have this reoccurring dream where you throw out all of my clothes and replace them with sale items from K-Mart. It’s horrible.” Tony finished with a shudder.

            “So you came down here to protect your wardrobe?” Pepper asked.

            “No, I realized what you were doing when I saw the sizes you were buying. Gorgeous and stately as I am I can’t quite pull off the waif look. Speaking of our skinny friend.” Tony said, turning to face Fenrir. “From what I saw she has been buying you all the wrong things. You’re lucky I came when I did.” Fenrir looked back and forth between Tony and Pepper.

            “Did you know that there is an entire stack of The Clash t-shirts up front that you two just walked by?” Tony said.

           

                                                &&&&&&&&

            “The fight was almost over and then, out of nowhere, Puck shows up,” Steve said.

            “To join the fight?” Bruce asked, as they continued down the hallway toward the kitchen.

            “No, that would have made sense,” Steve said. “No he just flew back and forth between me and Baron Blood and blew up cars.”

            “How long did that go on?” Bruce asked.

            “About five minutes. I yelled for him to knock it off while I had the Baron pinned and he stopped.” Steve said. “Of course before he left he set off every car alarm for two miles.”

            “You’re kidding?” Bruce said.

            “My ears are still ringing,” Steve said. As Bruce chuckled to himself they both saw Pepper come down the hall carrying a shopping bag.

            “How’d the painting hunt go?” Bruce asked.

            “We got a little side tracked,” Pepper said.

            “Where’s Fenrir?” Steve asked.

            “He’s right behind me,” Pepper said. “Tony’s giving him a few tips on the importance of hair gel.”

            “Hair gel? You got him a haircut?” Bruce asked.

            “Haircut, clothes, shoes,” Pepper said, holding out her own bag. “And a gift for myself, for not killing Tony when he showed up and tried to take over.”

            “How bad is it?” Bruce asked.

            “He looks incredible,” Tony said, entering the hallway and followed closely by Fenrir. “Even if Pepper wouldn’t let me buy him any Armani.”

            “Tony you- ” Bruce said, looking Fenrir up and down and fighting the desire to laugh. “You made him a hipster.”

            “The way I see it you can’t be that skinny and then not wear skinny jeans,” Tony said.

            “But scarves, Tony? Fenrir, do you even know who Metallica is?” Bruce asked. Fenrir shrugged and smiled. In his time in the tower he’d come to enjoy watching Bruce and Tony argue.

            “Pepper, I can see this from Tony but you actually have taste. How could you let Tony buy him these?” Bruce asked.

            “It was either this, or he wanted a Jersey Shore look. I chose the lesser of two evils,” Pepper said.

            “I kind of like them,” Fenrir admitted, his face beginning to turn pink.

            “Don’t listen to them Fenrir,” Steve said. “It’s a good look for you.”

            “Thanks,” Fenrir said.

            “I need to be heading out. I’ve been getting pages from the company for the last hour. Something about you leaving a meeting to go to the bathroom, and never coming back.” Pepper said, her last remark clearly aimed at Tony.

            “They’ll be happier with you there anyway,” Tony said.

            “Fenrir, if you want to talk more later then you know where to find me,” Pepper said.

            “Thank you, but I believe that you were right… that coat would have looked hideous on me,” Fenrir said with a smile.

            “The offer stands,” Pepper said, smiling back as she turned to leave.

            “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Tony asked.

            “We were just heading down to the lab to run some tests on Steve’s new suit,” Bruce said.

            “Oh, fun,” Tony said, turning to join them. “You want to come, Grey Wind? You might get to fire a gun at Captain America.”

            “No thank you. If it’s all the same, I think I’ll just return to my room,” Fenrir said.

            “You don’t know what you’re missing,” Tony said, heading down the hall.

            “The haircut really does look good, Fenrir,” Steve said, holding back. “It’s not too, uh, short.”

            “Nice one Captain Compliment,” Tony said. “Now quit stalling so we can see if that new suit is fire proof or not.”

            “Can’t wait,” Steve said, with a sigh.

            Fenrir watched the three of them leave before heading back to his room. Tony had explained the tests that they were planning for the suit earlier in the day. Why the Captain had to be wearing the suit during the tests had been noticeably absent from his discriptions. Still, Fenrir supposed that they knew what they were doing.

            As he approached his room he couldn’t help but smile. He had been nervous about leaving the Tower for the first time, but the experience had been more than worth it. The shopping experience had been pleasant; made all the more so by the chance to watch Tony and Pepper fight over clothes. But even more enjoyable was their return home and the reception that he’d received. It hadn’t just been that they’d approved of him. Although he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy the compliments. It was the way that they had been able to go into their normal routine with him involved. They’d treated him, not as a guest, but as someone who was just naturally supposed to be there.

            Adding to it all was the fact that Pepper had told him that tomorrow they could go and choose a painting. It was one thing for Thor to go out of his way for him. Thor was his uncle and clearly felt a certain level of obligation, in addition to affection. Pepper had no such ties, and she had still been kind to him. It was clear that Pepper had to be, without question, one of the most generous women on the planet.

            Walking into his room he went to lay down on his bed and realized that, for the first time in a very long time, he was completely relaxed. There was no sense of danger or doom waiting for him. Looking around his room he thought that maybe this time Thor had been right. Maybe this place could really be his home.

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

                       

 

            Fenrir was alive and he had been brought to Asgard. That was abundantly clear. The problem was that that seemed to be the only fact that anyone in the realm could agree on. Loki had come to Asgard with the simple intent of finding out the truth about his son. But weeks into his return to Asgard and he was no more informed about his son then he was on the first day back.

            He could use his magic to disguise his appearance and his own skills to get people to talk to him. But magic and persuasion were proving to be all but useless when even the most well informed Asgardian had nothing to give him but rumors!

           Fenrir was being hidden in the palace and refusing visitors. Fenrir had been found but had run away, preferring Svartalfheim. Odin had decided that if he couldn’t have Loki then Fenrir should finish his father’s punishment; and locked him away in the dungeons. Odin had never meant for Fenrir to return and had him banished. Fenrir had been found but due to injuries he had died soon after arriving on Asgard.

            The only thing that people could seem to agree upon was that Fenrir was alive, had been brought back to Asgard, and hadn’t been seen since. It was maddening and had finally pushed Loki to do the one thing he’d sworn he wouldn’t. He was going to have to go to the palace. The risk of someone finding him was ten times as strong so close to Odin, but it was becoming distressingly clear that he wouldn’t find his answers, or his son, anywhere else.

            The palace was, of course, embarrassingly easy to slip into. Once there Loki wandered the halls, following the activities of the servants. If there was one thing he’d learned as a prince it was that no one ever knows more than the servants. Unfortunately the servants didn’t seem to be in a gossiping mood and after a few hours Loki went off in search of other options.

            Hearing the telltale sound or armor across marble, Loki ducked out of sight of a group of passing soldiers.

            “Still don’t have all the feeling back,” A deep voice said. Loki looked out of his hiding place and saw that the voice belonged to Tyr.

            “You’re lucky to have the hand at all,” Another soldier said. “All the magic it took for the healers to reattach it. If it had been one of us then Odin would have just told us to live without it.”

            “He owed me that much,” Tyr insisted. “If it hadn’t been for that cursed wolf of his I would be fine.”

            Loki immediately straightened up. There was no question in his mind about what Tyr meant when he spoke of a wolf. Loki waited impatiently as the soldiers continued talking about castle business. Finally, after what felt like an era, the soldiers began to move on. Luck was finally on Loki’s side when Tyr bid the other soldiers farewell and went off alone.

            Loki knew that he should try and cast a glamour on himself. Lure Tyr to a tavern or someplace where he could get him talking. But he had been on this search for weeks and the time for subtlety was over. He waited only long enough to be sure that Tyr was alone and then stepped out of the shadows.

            “Greetings, Tyr,” Loki said. Tyr spun around and, when he saw who was speaking, a cruel grin spread across his face.

            “I never thought you’d dare to come here again,” Tyr said.

            “How could I resist?” Loki said. “Considering the stories that I’ve been hearing lately.”

            “Oh, so you finally heard about the little bastard’s return,” Tyr said. “You’re late.”

            “Where is my son, Tyr?” Loki demanded.

            “You didn’t really think that Odin would keep him here did you? After all the trouble he went to to get rid of him the first time.”

            “Where is my son?” Loki repeated.

            “They always said you were so smart. So brilliant. And you never even suspected that your son was sitting in a cell one realm away.” Loki knew that Tyr was baiting him, but the man needed to be silenced.

            Thankfully Tyr was always a predictable fighter and it only took Loki a few moments to have him pinned to the ground. He waited for Tyr to spit out a mouthful of blood before he continued his questions.

            “Where is Fenrir?” Loki said.

            “Gone,” Tyr said. “Odin banished him months ago.”

            “To where?” Loki demanded, pulling out a dagger and pressing it against Tyr’s throat.

            “Thor took him,” Tyr said with a sneer. “Word is that Odin gave him to Thor’s little team. As payment for all the damage you’ve done to Midgard.” Loki quickly cast a spell binding Tyr to the ground. Now that he finally knew where Fenrir was he couldn’t have Tyr following him.

            Loki was halfway down the alley when Tyr’s laughter stopped him.

            “Just think,” Tyr said. “All those years you were living as a prince, and your son was the whore of the nine realms.” Loki wasn’t proud of what he did next. A body was sure to draw attention, and a spell to prevent Tyr from telling what happened would have been simple enough, but he couldn’t stand the sound of that laugh.

            When he finally left the alley he thought about his next move. If Thor thought that he would allow the Avengers to enslave his son than he was a bigger fool than Loki had ever suspected. If Fenrir was on Midgard, then that was where Loki would go. There was just one place he had to go first.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So does anyone know how to use italics on this site? I wanted to have Fenrir's flashback completely italicized but I couldn't figure it out.  
> If you know how please leave a message, along with a glowing review of my story.


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out that in Marvel there is a character named Puck. I did not know this when I began the story. So if the Puck you are reading about is not matching up with the Puck you know then that is why.  
> Sorry about that, and here I thought I was being original.

“Robots, why is it always robots lately?” Tony asked, taking down one of a dozen giant robots that A.I.M. had set loose on the city. “It’s not that I’m not a fan of robotics. Robots are a beautiful thing.”

“Tony, do you think maybe you could focus for a minute?” Natasha said, as Thor tossed her to the back of one of the robots. Grabbing hold she immediately began firing into, what she hoped, was the power source. Meanwhile, Tony had gone to sit on the head of the robot he’d just broken.

“So fine, make a robot. That’s a good start,” Tony continued, ignoring the battle around him. “But don’t just stop at robot. Give it something to set it apart. Don’t just make it huge and call it a day.”

“Stark!” Steve called over the coms. “Less talking; more destroying.” 

“SMASH!” Hulk yelled, as he body slammed the robot that had been coming up behind Tony. 

“Thanks, Jolly Green,” Tony said, with a glance over his shoulder. “But like I was saying before.”

From eight stories up, Hawkeye quickly fired off a round of arrows before calling to Tony on his com. “Tony, I understand that you’ve been disappointed by the villains lately. But do you think that you could get off your iron ass and give us a hand?”

“For the record, the suit’s actually a gold titanium alloy,” Tony said. “And you all look like you have it under control.”

“I know exactly what you mean. If you’re not going to take pride in your work then why even bother,”

Tony turned around to agree and saw who it was that had spoken.

“Puck!” Tony yelled, jumping off of the robot head.

“Hello, Iron Man,” Puck said, with a grin.

“So you’ve joined up with A.I.M. now?” Tony asked.

“Please,” Puck said, pushing his long, white hair over his shoulders. “I do have some standards.”

“Because filling Central park with rabbits was a real work of genius,” Tony said.

“You have to admit,” Puck said, jumping to his feet. “It was certainly memorable.”

“As much as I treasure those memories I think I’ve had enough. So why don’t you get out of here before we have a repeat of your little carpocalypse stunt,” Tony said. 

“Can I assume that your eagerness to get rid of me might have something to do with the adorable little Audi that I saw parked around the corner?” Puck took a few steps back as he spoke. His smile getting bigger and bigger with every word.

“Stay away from my car,” Tony said, raising an arm and readying to fire a repulsor if he had to. 

“Now why would you bring a pretty car like that into battle? Why don’t I go check on it for you?” Puck said, flying off. Immediately Tony launched and was after him.

“Tony, get back here!” Steve yelled after him.

“But, my Audi?” Tony said. 

“For the love of, Tony you have four more at home,” Hawkeye said.

“But I liked that one,” Tony said, turning back to rejoin the battle. Seeing that Thor was already occupied smashing the head of a robot he veered to join Steve instead. After another twenty minutes of reenacting a Transformers movie and they were down to the last two robots.

“Thor, you take down the one on the left,” Steve said.

“Yeah, let’s rockum sockum these guys so we can go home,” Tony agreed. 

“Oh, Tooony, you didn’t forget about me did you?” Puck said, as he flew up beside Tony.

“Not this guy again,” Hawkeye groaned.

“Would you get out of here!” Tony yelled, swerving around to try and smack Puck out of the air. Puck easily avoided the attack and moved away.

“That’s not what you really want is it?” With that last comment Puck shot a blast of blue light at Tony and sent him plunging to the ground.

 

&&&&&&&&

 

“Every time he’s blown something up he’s used those blue lights,” Steve said, standing tensely at the head of the table.

“I’m telling you that I’m fine. It was just a push,” Tony insisted. “I think he just hit me with a light show.” 

Clint groaned and slumped back in his chair. In the hour since the team had returned from their battle with the robots they had been forced to watch as Tony and Steve went in circles over whether or not Tony should go to medical. Since it was technically a post mission debrief they all had to stay until the end. Clint leaned back to put his feet up on the table but was quickly smacked down by Natasha. 

“We’ve been over this before,” Steve said. “If a villain attacks you then you get medical attention. Especially when the villain in question has a tendency to magically blow things up.” 

“He shined a light on me,” Tony said. “I can’t go to the hospital every time that happens. I’d never be able to give interviews.”

“Then what’s the point of even having Tony on the team?” Clint said.

“Can we even still call Puck a villain?” Bruce asked, from where he was almost sleeping on the table. “Every time we see him I feel like we’re watching a kindergartener jumping around for attention.”

“What do you want us to do, ignore him?” Clint asked.

“Maybe if we stop paying attention to his temper tantrums then he’ll just get bored and leave.” Bruce suggested.

“Or he could decide to raise his game to the next level.” Natasha countered.

“Either way, he’s shown that he can do serious damage if he puts his mind to it. So until we can figure out exactly what he’s after, we keep our guard up,” Steve said. “I don’t want us to find out too late that everything so far has been an act to make us put our guard down.”

“Agreed.” Natasha said, standing up and walking out of the room. 

“We’re not done,” Steve said after her.

“She thinks we are,” Clint said, with a smile.

“I guess that means debriefing is over.” Tony said, getting up to leave. “In that case I need a drink.”

“Tony, no,” Steve groaned.

“What’s that, can’t hear you, already in the hall,” Tony said as he walked out the door.

Steve watched Tony disappear down the hall and sighed before shaking his head in defeat. 

“Fine, you can all go,” Steve said. 

“Thank god,” Clint said, jumping out of his chair. “I’m starving. Any of you want to split a pizza?”

“I’ll pass,” Bruce said, heading for the door. “I’ve been up for eighteen hours working on Steve’s new suit. I need some sleep.”

“Thor?” Clint asked.

“I too must decline,” Thor said. “Fenrir and I were in the middle of a saga when I left and I am eager to return to it.”

“He’s doing what?” Clint asked, after Thor had left the room.

“He’s showing Fenrir Star Wars,” Bruce explained.

 

&&&&&&&&

 

Steve quietly glanced around a corner before heading down the hall. He had been living in the Tower for three years and had yet to figure out how, every time he wanted to relax alone, one of his teammates would appear with a problem. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy spending his time with his team. Since waking up they had become his family. But without fail, anytime he wanted to watch a show by himself or even just have some quiet time to draw, one of them would appear. This had forced him to find more and more out of the way areas to go to when he needed a chance to recharge.

Taking one last look down the hallway behind him Steve turned into the empty room. Steve wasn’t exactly sure what Tony had meant for this room to be used for. It was nothing but an ugly gray couch and a large window. Still it was quiet and completely isolated, which made it perfect. 

He listened to the couch groan as he stretched out and reminded himself that Tony had most likely been kidding when he’d said that the couch was made of rhino skin. Hopefully he had been kidding. He turned to look out the window and began to relax. For the moment there were not battles, no intergalactic crises and most importantly no-

“You want to tell me why you are napping on the world’s most uncomfortable couch when I have at least twenty better ones to choose from?” Tony asked, shoving Steve’s feet off of the couch as he sat down next to him.

“Tony,” Steve said flatly.

“Don’t worry, if you’re determined to stay then we can make it work,” Tony said, leaning back into the couch. “I already told Clint and Natasha to meet us here with the pizzas.”

Steve straightened up on the couch; resigned. “Sounds fun.”

Tony took a sip of the drink he had been holding and stared at Steve. 

“My dad used to talk about you all the time, you know,” Tony said. He immediately had Steve’s attention. “It wasn’t always to me; he actually barely ever talked to me but you were always a popular topic of conversation.”

Steve smiled awkwardly at his friend and tried to figure out how drunk Tony was. He knew that Tony must have had to drink practically his weight in Scotch if he was at the point where he would willingly talk about his father. 

“I mean, he never shut up about you,” Tony continued. “You were the embodiment of what our country stood for. Everything that a person should try to be. He even used to make people watch those old propaganda films you made.”

“Yeah, those were pretty bad,” Steve said, reaching over to take Tony’s glass away from him. “Why don’t I just take this?”

“But you want to know the best part? Even after all the lectures and annoying Howardness; you were still my hero.” Tony confessed.

Natasha and Clint, who had just entered the room with boxes of pizza stood frozen in their tracks. No one could believe what they were hearing.

“When I was a kid I had all your action figures,” Tony continued. “My dad couldn’t be bothered to listen to me half the time, but when I said I wanted Captain America toys, I got the whole set.

“There was one that I actually slept with until I was twelve. Can you imagine what the tabloids would do if they got their hands on that gem?” Tony asked, smacking Steve in the arm with a laugh.

“Tony, I think you should go to bed,” Steve suggested. However drunk he might be now, Steve just knew that Tony was going to hate himself when he sobered up and realized what he’d been saying.

“I don’t want to go to bed,” Tony said.

“Yeah Cap, if he’s not tired then he’s not tired,” Clint said, joining them on the couch. “So, Tony, tell us more about these Captain America toys you had.”

“Clint,” Steve hissed at his friend. 

“Well there were the action figures and the comics obviously,” Tony said.

“Oh, of course,” Clint said. 

“Then there were the posters and, don’t tell Coulson, but I had a pretty badass trading card collection.”

“Mint condition, I hope,” Clint couldn’t help himself.

“Is there any other kind?” Tony said with a smile. “Actually I think I might still have those in storage somewhere.”

“Of course, Coulson might still have you beat since he got Steve to autograph his,” Clint said.

“You’re right,” Tony said, beginning to look concerned. “Can’t let that stand. Jarvis!” Tony called, jumping off of the couch. 

“Yes, sir?” Jarvis said.

“I need to get my trading cards autographed. Call up my guy and have him go and get the cards out of storage,” Tony said.

“I am afraid that you do not have anyone designated for that particular task,” Jarvis said. 

“I have a guy for everything,” Tony said. “Fine, have Happy do it, and first thing tomorrow have someone find me a trading card guy.”

“I shall inform Mr. Hogan of his new travel plans,” Jarvis said.

“No, Jarvis don’t get Happy,” Steve said, getting up to try and bring Tony back to the couch. “Just see if you can find where Pepper is and get her down here.” 

“I can’t make Pepper go to Malibu,” Tony said, as he let Steve lead him back to the couch.

“No one is going to Malibu, Tony,” Steve said. “We’re going to get Pepper down here and then we are getting you to bed to sleep off, whatever this is.”

“You just don’t want to sign my cards,” Tony pouted, as he collapsed back onto the couch. “You like Coulson better than me. No one ever likes me best.”

“Well, this just got depressing,” Clint said, eyeing where Tony was now curling up on his side.

“Tony, I don’t like Coulson better than you,” Steve said. 

“Yes you do,” Tony said. “Just like in Prep school. You think that people like you and then they don’t.”

Steve groaned as he looked at his friend. Of course Tony would choose tonight to lose all of his trademark self-confidence. He was just going to have to accept that, as the leader of the Avengers, he was never going to be allowed to just sit alone again.

“Tony, I promise we all like you,” Steve said, looking to Natasha and Clint for help.

“Tony, you’re our friend. And you gave us all a place to live, of course we like you,” Clint offered. 

“Sure, I give you a place to live and you like me,” Tony said. “But if I didn’t have the Tower would any of you still be here?”

“How could we still be here if the Tower is gone?” Clint asked. 

“See,” Tony said.

“But, I don’t-” Clint struggled.

“Give it up, Clint,” Natasha said, from where she was still standing in the doorway.

“Tony, listen to me,” Steve said, kneeling down in front of the couch. “You have had a lot to drink tonight and it’s making you a little emotional.”

“I didn’t drink that much,” Tony muttered.

“That’s not the point,” Steve insisted. “The point is that we do all like you. The Tower is great, but even if you didn’t let us stay here, you’d still be our teammate.”

“And do you really think that I’d live anywhere I didn’t want to if I couldn’t stand you?” Natasha said. 

“That’s true,” Tony conceded. “So you all like me?”

“Yes, Tony, we like you,” Steve said again.

Tony looked back and forth between Steve and Clint for a minute before grabbing them both in a hug.

“I love you guys so much!” Tony said, refusing to let go of either of his teammates.

“What is going on here?” Pepper asked, as she stepped into the room.

“Male bonding,” Natasha said, smiling at Pepper before making her exit.

“Jarvis said you needed me?” Pepper said, staring at her fiancé. Steve pushed Tony off and tried to figure out how to explain what was going on.

“Tony’s had a little too much to drink,” Steve said. “I was hoping that you could convince him to go to bed.”

“And to let go of me,” Clint added, still struggling to detach Tony from his hug without hurting him.

“At least he’s not wearing the suit and blowing things up this time,” Pepper muttered. “Tony, let’s go upstairs.”

“Pepper!” Tony said. For the first time since Pepper had come in Tony realized that she was there. He let go of Clint and ran over to hug her instead. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“You just saw me this morning, Tony,” Pepper said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Tony said. “You’re the most incredible woman ever and I want to be around you all the time.” Pepper stared at Tony for a minute.

“Okay,” Pepper said slowly. “Well I’m tired so why don’t we go to bed and you can tell me more about all of this there?”

“Okay, Pepper,” Tony said, still not letting her out of her hug. After finally getting Tony to let go, Pepper pulled him out of the room and quickly led him to their floor, leaving Steve and Clint to themselves. They sat in silence for a few minutes before either of them could say anything.

“That was weird,” Clint said.

Steve wanted to say something that would save the night. Something to defend Tony’s behavior. But after struggling to come up with something all that came out was

“That was weird.” 

 

&&&&&&&&

 

There were a lot of things that Steve missed from living in the 40’s but whenever it was Thor’s turn to make everyone breakfast, and he came in with at least twenty bags of McDonalds, he had trouble remembering what those things were. A super soldier metabolism required him to eat at least four times as much as a normal man. For the most part he was happy to eat healthy and nutritious foods, but every once in a while it was nice to embrace the modern era with a warm stack of McMuffins.

He of course knew that he was damaging his image every time that he was sighted with one of their bags. While he honestly couldn’t see how his eating habits had anything to do with his status as a hero he’d come to accept that he was expected to subsist on nothing but water and patriotism.   
Steve looked across the table to where Thor was muttering the word “glorious” into a McGriddle and knew that he was in good company. Even if Fenrir and Bruce were making them look bad by having oatmeal.

“You are sure I cannot persuade you to try one?” Thor asked, holding a sandwich out to Fenrir. “I know that Bruce is fond of the mush but these are far superior.  
Fenrir shook his head and continued to eat his oatmeal.

“Stop calling it mush,” Bruce said. “You’ve said yourself that you have it on Asgard.”

“We have something similar,” Thor said. “But I don’t see why anyone would choose it when there are other options, and Fenrir has had it every morning this week.”

“He’s fine, Thor,” Bruce said. 

As Thor and Bruce began to debate the merits of breakfast foods Steve looked over and saw Pepper coming down the hall.

“Guess it was Thor’s turn to make breakfast again,” Pepper said, looking at the pile of fast food on the kitchen table.

“How’s Tony?” Steve asked.

“He was still asleep when I left,” Pepper said, ignoring the food on the table and going to the fridge. 

“I doubt he’ll be happy when he remembers everything from last night,” Steve said.

“No he won’t,” Pepper said, returning to the table with a glass of juice. “And unfortunately you are going to have to be the ones to deal with it because Fenrir and I already have plans.”

“We do?” Fenrir asked, looking up from where he’d been stirring his oatmeal.

“We’re going downtown so you can finally pick out your painting,” Pepper said.

“I thought you both did that last week,” Bruce said.

“We were supposed to,” Pepper explained, as she began cutting up an orange. “But after Tony dropped out of that shareholders meeting to go shopping I haven’t been able to get out of anything.”

“If you’re busy we don’t need to go,” Fenrir said. “I’m sure that anything you would pick out would be fine.”

“No, I’m looking forward to this. Besides, I can’t wait to see which one you choose,” Pepper said. “Go get dressed and we can go as soon as you’re ready.” 

Fenrir looked around the table and, after getting an order “enjoy yourself” from Thor, stood up and walked away from the table. As he was moving to leave the kitchen he passed Clint and Natasha coming in. No one knew exactly what had happened between Clint and Fenrir after their altercation in the library. While Fenrir seemed to have moved on from the incident, Clint still had trouble being in the same room with the other man. Because of this no one was surprised to see Clint give Fenrir a wide berth when he came in the room.

As soon as Fenrir was down the hallway Clint picked up his conversation where he’d left it.

“We could go this weekend, have some fun before you’re big mission,” Clint said.

“Not my idea of fun,” She replied. 

“Then just come with me, you don’t have to enjoy it if you don’t want to,” Clint said.

“Is this how he usually asks you out on a date?” Pepper asked. 

“It’s not a date,” Natasha said, looking at Thor’s breakfast with disgust. “He wants me to go to the circus with him.”

“They get in this weekend and they’re only here for a month,” Clint explained.

“Then you’ll have plenty of time to find someone else to go with,” Natasha said, finally giving in and taking a sandwich. 

“Tasha, please, the circus was like my childhood,” Clint pleaded. “All of my best memories of growing up and learning to use the bow happened while I was with the circus.”

“Didn’t your mentor betray you and leave you for dead?” Bruce asked, trying to piece together what Clint was saying, with the stories that they’d all heard.

“Well, yeah, but that wasn’t until right at the end,” Clint said, finally sitting down and pulling a stack of breakfast sandwiches over to himself.

“Why don’t you just go by yourself if it’s so important to you?” Natasha asked.

“You have to go to the circus with other people. Otherwise you’re just the creepy guy watching the circus alone,” Clint said. 

“Clint,” Natasha said, taking Clint’s hands in hers. “You know that I would gladly take a bullet for you. But there is no way in hell that you are getting me into a stripped tent. Find someone else.”

Clint sulked for a few minutes as he ate his breakfast and then turned to the rest of his team. 

“Hey, Bruce, how would you like to-” Clint began.

“No thanks,” Bruce said quickly.

“Steve, how about you?” Clint said, shifting focus.

“Sorry, Clint, I’ve just never liked the circus much,” Steve admitted.

“Thor?” Clint asked. Thor looked at Clint for a moment. Thor still hadn’t quite forgiven Clint yet so it was not surprise to anyone when he shook his head.

“Pepper?” Clint said, quickly running out of hope. “You and Tony, it’ll be great.”

“Tony swore that he’d never go to a circus again after an elephant stole his cotton candy in the third grade,” Pepper said, as though there was nothing at all wrong with her statement. Meanwhile Thor, who had finished the last of the McGriddles got up and left the kitchen.

“Go by yourself,” Natasha repeated.

“I’ll just wait until the next one,” Clint said. Clint slumped down in his chair and began eating again. He immediately perked up when Tony entered the kitchen. 

“Hey, Tony, any chance you want to go to the circus with me?” Clint asked.

“No. Elephants,” Tony muttered. Tony scanned the room before he spoke again.

“Last night…” Tony began. “Did I say some things that weren’t normal?” 

“If you mean you getting drunk and telling us all about your childhood man crush on Captain America? Then, yeah, it happened,” Clint said, clearly still annoyed at being shot down. “Not to mention you attack hugging me and Steve.”

“Tony, how much did you drink?” Bruce asked, staring nervously at his friend. It was no secret to anyone in the room that Bruce worried about how much Tony drank. He had in fact gotten Tony to cut down on his drinking a lot since he’d moved into the Tower.

“I…didn’t drink that much,” Tony said, shaking his head like he was trying to figure something out.

“But not a lot, for you, could give alcohol poisoning to most average people,” Bruce said.

“No I mean that I did not drink that much,” Tony insisted. “After the debrief I had two drinks and the next thing I know I’m acting like some whiney teenager.”

“You also didn’t remember drinking when you took the suit to Sea World and tried to ride that whale,” Steve said. 

“I didn’t remember anything from that night. I remember all of last night,” Tony said. “I remember leaving the meeting, having two drinks, talking to Clint about pizza, and then going to you to whine my heart out.”

“Trust me, we remember it too,” Natasha said. 

“The point is that I wasn’t even close to being drunk,” Tony insisted. “I was nowhere near drunk enough to start talking about my dad.”

“Tony, it sounds like you had a rough night. Why don’t you grab something to eat and then go back to bed.” Bruce suggested.

“You’re not listening,” Tony said. “Something happened last night. I didn’t drink and I sure as hell didn’t want to tell any of you about the things I said. But I had to. One second I’m looking for Steve so we can have pizza and the next minute I had to tell you everything.”  
“Tony,” Steve began.

“I don’t talk about things!” Tony yelled. “Ask Pepper, she’s seen me drunk before. Even at my worst I never talk about feelings.” Tony said the last word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. 

“Bruce,” Steve said. “How about you take Tony downstairs and give him a quick medical exam. Make sure that everything’s okay.” Bruce nodded his ascent and he and Tony were soon gone. 

“You really think that there might be something wrong with him?” Clint asked, once they were out of earshot. 

“Either way it will be good for him to get the exam. If something’s wrong we know and if not then at least Bruce has some time to get Tony to calm down.” Steve said. 

“He has a point though. Even when he thought he was dying and melted down at his birthday party, he didn’t open up. If anything he closed off even more,” Natasha said, rising from the table. “I think I’m going to check what Tony was drinking last night.”

“I’ll come,” Clint said, grabbing a sandwich to go and hurrying to follow after her. 

“I guess it’s just you and me,” Steve said, looking at the now empty table.

“Just you. I need to go finish getting ready,” Pepper said, standing up. 

Steve began gathering up his plates as Pepper began to leave. Despite Tony’s continued instance that there were easier ways to get things clean, he couldn’t get out of the habit of doing his own dishes. He was rinsing his glass when he noticed that Pepper hadn’t left yet. 

Pepper stood in the doorway of the kitchen and looked nervously at her watch before turning to Steve. 

“I think I’m going to have to ask you for a favor,” Pepper admitted.

“What is it?” Steve asked.

“Probably nothing,” Pepper said. “But if it is it could be…awkward.” 

Steve waited for Pepper to tell him what was going on.

“I think there might be a problem with Fenrir,” Pepper said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I promise that the next one won't take nearly as long.  
> Obligatory Ad Moment--- If you are looking for something else to read between updates. Try, Silent Lies, written by my dear friend CsillaRising. The story is amazing.  
> Also tell her that Fenrir sent you and get a ten percent discount on all future purchases of eight legged horses.  
> Keep reading and Reviewing.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

 

            “I think there might be a problem with Fenrir,” At least a dozen scenarios went through Steve’s mind when Pepper said that. Everything from ‘earth food is slowly killing him’ to ‘messing with his gauntlets is what is making Tony act strangely’.  There were a lot of possibilities that passed through his head but none of them came close to the truth.

            “You think he’s having trouble getting dressed?” Steve asked, feeling like he had to be missing a piece of the conversation.

            “It doesn’t usually take him so long to get ready,” Pepper explained. “I’m just worried that he is standing in his room trying to figure out what counts as an appropriate ‘Midgardian outfit’ to go out in. Or worse he’s wrestling with those skinny jeans that Tony made him buy.”

“So you’re asking me to…” Steve began.

             “Just go check on him,” Pepper said.

            “I don’t know if that’s the best idea,” Steve said.

            “Well I can’t go. Fenrir’s modest enough as it is without sending a girl to watch him get dressed,” Pepper explained.

            “I doubt he’ll be all that comfortable with me. We’ve barely ever talked,” Steve said.

            “Well it’s about time that you fixed that,” Pepper said, clearly deciding that the conversation was over.

            “Pepper,” Steve tried again.

            “No,” Pepper said, spinning around to face Steve. “Someone needs to go check on him and everyone else is busy. Tell Fenrir that I’ll meet him in the lobby in twenty minutes.” Pepper took a few steps down the hall and turned back to Steve.

            “You have to talk to him eventually. So you’ll do it today,” Pepper said, as she continued her walk down the hall. “Remember what I said; twenty minutes.” She called over her shoulder.

            Steve stood in the kitchen for a while after Pepper left, unsure of what he should do. Shaking his head at his reluctance he began the walk to Fenrir’s room.

 It wasn’t that Steve didn’t like Fenrir. Any feelings of distrust he’d had for Thor’s nephew had been all but blotted out in the first days after his arrival. The problem was that he couldn’t get past the fact that when Thor had brought him to Earth, he’d been one of the first to vote against letting Fenrir stay. It hadn’t been very easy to be around Fenrir knowing that, if he’d had his way, he wouldn’t be in the Tower now.

Realizing that he was almost at Fenrir’s room he began to slow down. He knew that he had to get over his issues sooner or later. It may as well be now; he thought as he knocked on Fenrir’s door.

After standing awkwardly outside of Fenrir’s door, he tried knocking one more time before asking Jarvis for help.

“Did Fenrir already head down?” Steve asked.

“No, Mister Lokison is still inside his room,” Jarvis said.

“Well, could you tell him that Pepper is waiting for him in the lobby?” Steve asked.

“I hate to overstep, but I feel that it may be in the best interest of those involved if you were to let yourself in,” Jarvis said.

“Is he okay?” Steve asked.

“While he is not physically injured, he does seem to be in some distress,” Jarvis said.

            Luckily the door was unlocked and Steve didn’t waste another second before going inside. It didn’t take him long to find Fenrir. His first thought was that Fenrir was naked and he almost spun around and went back out the door before he realized that he was at least wearing boxers. Still Steve felt like it was a good idea to keep his eyes on the ceiling from that point onward.

            “Hey, Fenrir,” Steve said.

            “Hello,” Fenrir said quietly, from where he was sitting on his bed.

            Daring a glance away from the ceiling, Steve took in the sight in front of him. While, admittedly, he had never been in Fenrir’s room before he had the feeling that the explosion of clothes he was seeing was not its normal state. Bags and boxes were scattered all over with their contents spilling out. In the middle of it all sat Fenrir, staring at the piles of fabric and looking lost.

            “So is this what Tony got you?” Steve asked. The moment the words came out he wanted to slap himself. Of course they were the clothes that Tony had bought for him. Where else would he have gotten them?

            “They arrived yesterday,” Fenrir said. “I hadn’t realized that he’d gotten me quite so much.”             

            “That’s the way Tony is. He probably bought anything that he thought looked good on you. And what just looked okay. And about ten of everything that he thought you might possibly wear someday,” Steve said, still making a point to keep his eyes firmly planted on the ceiling. “He did the same thing to Bruce when he moved in.”

            “He’s very generous,” Fenrir said. Steve was a little disappointed. He’d been sure that mentioning Bruce would at least get some response out of him.

            “Pepper’s going to be ready to go soon, so you should probably finish getting dressed,” Steve said.

            “That is why I came in here,” Fenrir said, still using the same flat, emotionless voice he’d been using since Steve had come in.

            “Listen, Fenrir, I know that things are a lot more formal on Asgard and that there are rules of dress but you don’t need to worry about that here. Just wear something comfortable and you’ll be fine,” Steve said.

            “I don’t know what…” Fenrir trailed off.

            “Maybe that was bad advice,” Steve said, realizing the problem. “I guess you wouldn’t really know which of these would be comfortable. Just pick something that you like and you can figure out the rest later.”

            “But that’s… I don’t know what I like,” Fenrir finally said. “It was easier pretend when I was on Asgard. I didn’t know what answers to give, but I could at least remember what I’d liked before and that seemed to satisfy everyone. But now I’m here and Thor, people, keep asking me what I like; what I want. I **don’t** want. I stopped wanting a long time ago.”

            Steve dropped his head so that he could really look at Fenrir. What he’d thought was just Fenrir feeling a little overwhelmed had clearly been off. The man in front of him seemed to have all but shut down.

            “Even when I make myself pick something it’s never enough. There’s always more choices; more decisions to make. I thought that maybe I could just watch what everyone else was doing, mimic, get the right answers that way. People usually like it when you choose the same as them, but none of you can seem to agree on anything,” Fenrir said.

            Steve flashed back to that morning at breakfast. To Thor and Bruce arguing over Fenrir’s choice of oatmeal and Fenrir just sitting and staring at his bowl through the whole thing.

            “Have you talked to Thor about any of this?” Steve asked.

            “Thor…wants me to be happy,” Fenrir said, his face dropping his lost look only to gain one of sadness. “When I am unhappy he thinks that he has let me down in some way. Telling him would only cause him pain. I don’t… I don’t want that.”

            “Fenrir, point to a corner of this room,” Steve said. Fenrir stared at him, but when he began to question, Steve said, “Don’t think, just point.”

            Fenrir did as he was told and pointed at the corner nearest to him.

            “Alright, that’s where we’re getting your clothes for today,” Steve said, going to the nearest pile and grabbing the first pair of jeans he saw. “Put these on first. I can’t talk to you if you’re not wearing pants.” 

            Fenrir blushed but hurried to do what Steve told him.

             “For the record you’re wrong,” Steve said. “You have liked things since you came here. The whole reason Tony wants to give you one of his paintings is because Pepper told him that you liked hers. You might be pretending about some things but no one fools Pepper when it comes to art.”

            “That was once, the ones today might be different,” Fenrir said.

            “So say that you can’t decide and let Pepper pick one. She’s been doing it for Tony for years,” Steve said. “You chose Pepper too. You didn’t need to spend as much time with her as you have been. Or with Bruce.” Fenrir stared at Steve like he wanted to argue, but let the man continue.

            “It’s hard to know how to make a choice when you’ve never seen any of the options before. I know, I’ve been there,” Steve said.

            “You?” Fenrir interrupted.

            “I…lost about seventy years. I was only asleep, but when I woke up everything that I knew was gone. Things were different, and I had to figure out how different that was going to make me.”

            “I know that it’s not the same as what you went through,” Steve continued. “Losing your freedom the way you did. I understand that you had to change to survive in a place like that. But they didn’t break you. Thor got you out and now you just need to figure out who you want to be now. It will take time but you’ll get there.”

 “And in the meantime I can’t even get dressed on my own,” Fenrir replied.

            “Do you have a favorite color?” Steve asked.

            “I don’t know,” Fenrir admitted.

            “Are there any that make you feel calm? That you like seeing?” Steve asked.

            “Blue, I suppose,” Fenrir said after a pause. Steve looked back into the corner where he’d gotten Fenrir’s jeans and grabbed a blue sweater.

            “When in doubt just grab from the top of the pile,” He said, handing the shirt over to Fenrir. While Fenrir was putting the shirt on Steve went to look for some shoes. A few boxes and a discovery of sneakers later and they were done.

            “Thank you,” Fenrir said, clearly embarrassed to have needed help at all.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Steve said. “You should probably go and meet Pepper before it gets too late.” Fenrir nodded and was heading for the door when Steve stopped him.

            “Can I ask you one thing before you go?” Steve asked, and Fenrir quickly nodded. “Why do you have a liquor cart by your bed?”

            “Oh, Tony gave that to me after he decided that I was twenty-one,” Fenrir said.  “I don’t really understand the significance but he seemed very excited to give it to me.”

 

                                                &&&&&&&&

            Three men were robbing a bank in Manhattan. This shouldn’t have needed a call to the Avengers, except for the fact that the leader of the group seemed to be able to knock people unconscious when he screamed. While it wasn’t yet clear if this ability was natural or some unnoticed tech under his shirt, it was safe to say that the NYPD didn’t want to get too close.

            “Clint, they’re right under you,” Steve said.

            “I’ve got ‘em,” Clint said, from his position on the roof. He quickly took aim and fired, only to watch as his arrows turned into roses and floated the rest of the way to the ground.

            “What the hell?” Clint said, grabbing another arrow from his quiver to figure out what had just happened.

            “I hope you don’t mind. But I have recently been led to believe that violence never solves anything,” A voice said. Clint spun around and saw Puck sitting cross-legged and hovering a few feet behind him.

            “Rogers, you’re going to have to take care of them. I’ve got to deal with a distraction,” Clint said into his com.

            “Now that is hurtful after I took the time to give you such nice flowers,” Puck said, smiling.

            “Sorry, I’m interested in someone else,” Clint said, aiming an arrow at Puck and wishing for a weapon that the man couldn’t turn into a plant. “Besides I wouldn’t want to make Tony jealous.”

            “Stark is entertaining, but I’m in the mood for something a little different this time,” Puck said. Then, without another word, he threw a blast of blue light at Clint’s chest.

 

                                                &&&&&&&&

 

            “I think that now we can safely say that it **was** Puck that made Tony act the way he did,” Bruce said, as the team watched Clint chase Natasha around the Tower.

            Just like with Tony, Clint had been perfectly normal for the first few hours after his run in with Puck. That had all changed when Natasha went to go finish gathering the last few things she was going to need for her undercover mission. Suddenly Clint had been by her side begging her not to go. Pledging his love to her and insisting that she quit S.H.I.E.L.D.

            “Tasha, come on. You know how I feel about you. Let’s just take the day tomorrow, go to the courthouse, and get married,” Clint said.

            “Are you insane?” Natasha demanded.

            “No. Let everyone else take care of the world for a while. We could even leave the city, buy a farm, it would be great!” Clint insisted.

            “One of you get him away from me or I’m getting the tazer,” Natasha growled at the other Avengers.

            Realizing that this was probably not an idle threat, Steve and Tony hurried to grab Clint and pull him away as the object of his affection left the room.

            “I don’t want her to go,” Clint said, looking up at Steve. “People are always trying to kill her when she goes undercover.”

            “Got to tell you, Katniss, I did not picture you as being so old fashioned,” Tony said, as he and Steve pushed Clint down into a chair. “I mean seriously, marriage is one thing but a farm?”

            “I’ve always liked horses,” Clint said, as if that explained everything.

            “Well I’m sure that the horses will still be there waiting when she gets back from her mission,” Steve said, wondering how long it would be before the spell wore off.

            “I should have tried to get her to marry me years ago,” Clint said. “A few years ago I was still pretty impressive. Now I’m surrounded by superheroes. How am I supposed to compete with that?”

            “Clint,” Bruce said. “We’re on the same team.”

            “I shoot a bow,” Clint pouted. “I may as well wait in the jet half the time.”

            “Clint, I know that you’re feeling emotional right now but this is just a spell,” Steve said.

            “Okay,” Clint said, slumping down on his chair. “Can we stop talking now? I’m tired.”

            “Did this happen to you?” Steve asked Tony, catching Clint as he began to slide off of his chair.

            “I don’t know, that whole nights a blur,” Tony said, helping Steve and Bruce to pull up Clint.

            “Well let’s put him to bed and hopefully he’ll sleep this one off,” Bruce said.

            Fifteen minutes later they all realized their mistake when Jarvis informed them that Clint had gone out the window and was making a beeline for Natasha.

            “He played us,” Tony said, feeling stunned and, frankly, a little impressed.

            “Let’s just stop him before Natasha does,” Bruce said hurrying down the hall.

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

 

            “How you feeling, Romeo?” Tony asked, the next morning when Clint came down to breakfast.

            “Did someone taze me?” Clint asked, rubbing the back of his head.

            “Natasha did, after you broke into her room last night,” Tony replied.

            “That makes sense,” Clint said, sitting down at the table and grabbing a plate. “She leave already?”

            “A few hours ago,” Steve said.

            “Any chance I’m remembering it worse than it was?” Clint asked.

            “Do you remember proposing?” Tony asked.

            “Yes,” Clint said with a groan.

            “Then no, it was that bad,” Tony said. “And next time you propose you could at least get the girl a ring.”

            “She’s never coming back,” Clint said, looking like he wanted to crawl under the table and die.

            “Yes she will,” Steve said.

            “If it makes you feel any better, at least now we know for sure what happens when Puck attacks,” Bruce offered.

            “We confess all of our embarrassing secrets,” Tony said.

            “Actually, I don’t think that’s quite what I did,” Clint said. Everyone at the breakfast table looked up at him.

            “I mean, you all know how I feel about Natasha and, yeah, I worry about her when she goes undercover. But I have never wanted her to quit S.H.I.E.L.D. The fact that she’s an assassin, one of the most deadly people alive, is one of the things I like most about her.”

“I’m genuinely worried about what that says about you as a person,” Tony said.

            “My point is that I may think about marrying her and all that, but I don’t really want it. It wouldn’t be her. So what I did last night was not a confession,” Clint said.

            “So what the hell is Puck doing?” Tony asked.

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

            “I’m just saying that it would be good for PR,” Tony said to Bruce. Meanwhile Bruce was trying to figure out why he kept letting Tony into his rooms at all.

            “I don’t think that it would work out as well as you think it would,” Bruce said, hoping that Tony would let the idea go.

            “I don’t see why. You’ve gotten a lot more control over the other guy in the past few years. And think of how happy it would make kids across America,” Tony said. “Bruce, think of the children.”

            “How did you even get anyone to consider this?” Bruce asked.

            “Are you kidding? They contacted me,” Tony insisted, trying, and failing, to look shocked.

            “You expect me to believe that the producers of Sesame Street contacted you and asked if you could get a giant green rage monster to guest on their show?” Bruce asked.

            “I may have written them a letter, but the phone call was completely instigated by them,” Tony insisted. “Just think, you and Oscar the Grouch, it’s a classic in the making.”

            Bruce was saved from further argument when he and Tony heard a knock at the door.

            “Come in,” Bruce called, at the same time that Thor came through the door. They’d made a lot of progress with Thor since he had moved into the Tower but he still had trouble not just bursting into wherever he wanted to be.

            “Stark,” Thro said, nodding his head at Tony before redirecting his attention towards Bruce. “I had wanted to spend the afternoon with Fenrir but he was not able to find him.”

            “He’s not in his room?” Bruce asked.

            “Nor the library,” Thor said. “I had thought he might be with you.”

            “I haven’t seen him all day,” Bruce said.

            “He’s probably palling around with Pepper,” Tony said. “You know it’s a good thing that I don’t do jealousy or I might worry about how much time he spends around my fiancé.”

            “Hey!” A voice called from the hall. They all looked up as Steve came into the room, fully dressed in his uniform.

            “I want you all to suit up,” Steve said, glancing around at the people in the room. “Is everyone feeling all right?”

            “Well, I could be better,” Tony said. Bruce ignored him and stood up to join Steve.

            “What’s going on?” Bruce asked.

            “I just got a call from S.H.I.E.L.D.  Apparently Puck has been flying around outside the Tower for the last hour.” Steve said. “We need to be ready if he makes a move.”

            “You want us to go into battle for _him_?” Tony asked.

            “We almost lost a battle last week because he took Clint out of action, and we still don’t know what his motives are so yes,” Steve said, looking around and noticing that not everyone was there. “Where’s Clint?” Everyone looked at each other and realized that they had no idea where he was.

            “You don’t think…” Bruce started to say.

            “He’s probably just down in the range,” Steve said. “Jarvis, where’s Clint?”

            “Mister Barton left the building about a half an hour ago,” Jarvis said.

            “Did he say where he was going?” Bruce asked.

            “He did, but I have been sworn to secrecy on the subject,” Jarvis said.

            “You’re not supposed to keep secrets for anyone but me!” Tony said, sounding outraged.

            “Oh God,” Steve said. “Jarvis, do you know if Clint was acting strange before he left?” The team waited in silence. All of them dreading the same thing.

            “I did not notice anything greatly out of the ordinary,” Jarvis said. They all began to breathe a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.

            “Mister Lokison did seem a bit concerned for him though,” Jarvis said.

            “Fenrir talked to him?” Steve asked.

            “Indeed,” Jarvis said.

            “Jarvis,” Steve began, with a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Do you know where Fenrir is?”

            “When Mister Barton left the Tower he made a point of taking Mister Lokison with him,” Jarvis said.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that seems like a good place to leave things for now!
> 
> Please let me know what you think! :)


	19. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance for the short chapter. Don't worry. The next chapter will more than make up for it.

Three hours later and the mood in the Tower had gotten bleak. Despite attempts to figure out what had happened to Clint and Fenrir they still had no idea where the two had gone. Thor had already turned the sky black and Steve had a feeling that if they didn’t at least get a lead on Fenrir soon then they were all in for a major storm.

            “I’m sure that they’re fine,” Steve said, wishing that he could sound more reassuring.

            “We’re all probably getting upset over nothing,” Bruce said. “They’ll come back and we’ll all find out that they just went out to lunch.”

            “Sure, because those two hang out so much already,” Tony said, immediately receiving glares from Bruce and Steve.

            “Thor, I know that you’re worried, and that Clint and Fenrir don’t have the best track record,” Bruce said. “But Clint knows that what happened between them is wrong. You’ve seen how he’s been acting since then, I don’t think he’ll be in a hurry to repeat it.”

            “I know that Clint regrets what happened,” Thor said, staring out the window. “But it is no secret how he feels about Fenrir, and I am afraid of what he may do under Puck’s influence.”

            “We don’t even know for sure that Puck ever saw him,” Bruce insisted.

            “And yet he abandoned the Tower soon after Clint left,” Thor said.

            The timing of Puck’s disappearance hadn’t been lost on the rest of the team either. Tony had been having Jarvis run scans on the city for sightings of Puck or Clint but so far they hadn’t had any luck. Even S.H.I.E.L.D.’s resources hadn’t been able to turn up anything. Everything would have been easier if they could have just traced Clint’s cell phone but, of course, when they’d tried they had found it abandoned in a vent on the 12th floor.

            “I should be out there looking for him,” Thor said, for the tenth time in as many minutes.

            “We don’t know where to look,” Bruce said. “It’s better if we just stay here and wait. They’ll be back.”

            Steve wished that Bruce had sounded more convincing. It was getting harder and harder to keep Thor from going out hunting for Clint. Without any leads to go on it would have just meant Thor flying around hoping to spot them. The way things were headed with Thor that would also include throwing lightning at anyone who looked like Clint. Steve was trying to figure out how he was going to keep Thor calm much longer when Jarvis spoke up.

            “I thought that you all might like to know that Mister’s Barton and Lokison are on the elevator,” Jarvis said.

            “When did that happen?” Tony demanded. “You were supposed to be watching for three miles around the Tower.”

            “What difference does it make? Let’s just go,” Steve said. They all hurried down the hall and were all standing by the doors as the elevator arrived.

            “So they can’t fly at all? Then what do they do if they don’t catch the bar in time?” Fenrir said, stepping out of the elevator and stopping when he saw the crowd.

            “They just time it so they can catch each other,” Clint said, through a mouthful of popcorn. “That’s what makes it-” Clint stopped in his tracks when he saw everyone waiting for them. “Hi.”

            “Where have you two been?” Steve demanded, as Thor went to put a protective arm around Fenrir.

“Circus,” Clint said.

            “You were at the circus?” Tony asked.

            “This was the last weekend they were in town and none of you would go,” Clint said.

            “So your solution was to kidnap Fenrir and make him sit through it with you?” Bruce asked. Thor tightened his hold on Fenrir and glared at Clint.

            “Hate to disappoint you all but he offered to come,” Clint said. It took a second for everyone to process the information and then they all turned to Fenrir.

“He seemed upset and I asked him what was bothering him. It seemed important to him so I said that I could go,” Fenrir explained, turning to look up at Thor.

            “So then you just went to the circus? With Fenrir?” Tony asked again. Still not entirely able to wrap his mind around the concept.

            “It was fun,” Fenrir admitted. “I got to try cotton candy.”

            “You bought him a-” Tony said.

            “Whatever,” Steve said, stopping Tony from asking more questions about snacks. “Clint, why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going?”

            “I didn’t really think about it. We were only gone for a few hours,” Clint said. “Pepper took him for an entire day once, and she didn’t have everyone waiting for her when she got back.”

            “Well, Pepper never beat the shit out of one of my houseguests so she’s earned a little more freedom,” Tony said.

            “Besides that,” Steve added. “There was a Puck sighting outside the Tower earlier. He disappeared right after you left. It didn’t look good.”

            “Well, I never saw Puck,” Clint said.

            “You sure?” Tony asked. “Fenrir, while you were out did he try and get you to run away to the circus with him. Or say anything about a farm?”

            “What?” Fenrir asked, looking around confused.

            “I’m not under a spell Tony,” Clint insisted.

            “You can’t really blame me for wanting to check,” Tony muttered.

            “I’m sorry if I worried you. But I really was fine,” Fenrir said.

            “So are we done here?” Clint asked, directing his words mainly to Thor.

            “If you and Fenrir are okay, then I guess we can all just go,” Steve said. For all the things that he’d thought would happen today, Clint going to the circus with Fenrir hadn’t been on the list. He had been ready for a confrontation with a mildly entranced Clint. He was at a bit of a loss for how to respond when it turned out that they’d all been getting worked up over nothing.

            “Hold on,” Tony said, holding up a hand as everyone began to leave. “There’s still one thing that doesn’t make sense.”

            “God, is it that hard to believe that I could be around Fenrir and not be an ass?” Clint asked.

            “Little bit, but that’s not my point.” Tony said. “We had Jarvis and S.H.I.E.L.D scanning the city for these two for hours. Even if they couldn’t get a sight while they were at the show, they had to travel there and back.” The team was beginning to realize what Tony was getting at and listened closer.

            “Let’s say by some miracle they manage to stay out of camera range on their own. That’s only good until you get close to the Tower. I have everything in a six block radius under surveillance. Cameras everywhere. There is no possible way that you two were able to get past all of it and into the Tower without being seen. We should have known you were coming long before you got onto that elevator.”

            As Tony finished they turned to look at Fenrir and Clint for an explanation.

            “I don’t know what to tell you. I wasn’t avoiding cameras. I didn’t even know you were looking for us,” Clint said.

            “I can explain it,” An eager voice said from behind Steve. Turning to look they saw Puck, sitting cross legged on one of Tony’s end tables.

            “I am sorry if I caused any problems. But I hated the thought of these lovely boys not getting to enjoy a day at the circus. It really is a wonderful show. I myself have gone three times,” Puck said, leaning forward with a smile.

            “How did you get in here?” Tony asked, mildly horrified at the affront to his security.

            “Oh, someone left a window open. Don’t feel bad. You have thousands of them, it was bound to happen eventually,” Puck said, hopping off of the table.

            “What do you want?” Steve demanded, slipping into a fighting stance.

            “Absolutely nothing,” Puck said, sidestepping around the group. “I have everything that I could ever want. I only wish others were as happy as me.”

            “Well, we’d all be very happy if you left,” Clint said.

            “You know, I heard almost the same thing from Tony Stark. You all aren’t very original,” Puck said, practically singing the last word.

            “Get out!” Tony yelled. Pucks smile fell away and his face took on a determined pout.

            “Once again, boring,” He said. “But don’t worry, I have a solution for that.” Immediately Puck vanished, only to reappear across the room. Only this time he was standing with an arm around Fenrir.

            “Fenris!” Thor shouted. He was absolutely stunned that Puck had been able to get Fenrir away from him.

            “Just so you know,” Puck began. “I had something truly beautiful planned for the Thunderer.”

            The group stood frozen as Fenrir looked at Puck in fear.

            “But I think your young charge has something extra special to show everyone,” Puck finished his speech by pushing his palm against Fenrir’s chest. Just like with Tony and Clint, a blast of blue light shot out at Fenrir and sent him slamming into a wall. Then Fenrir began screaming.

            “What did you do?” Steve demanded. He ran over and grabbed Puck as Fenrir continued to scream and fell down to the floor.

            “Oh, I see the problem,” Puck said, spinning out of Steve’s grasp. “I can fix it. I can fix it.”

            Puck waved his hands back and forth and soon a golden light was floating toward Fenrir.

            “Why isn’t it helping him?” Bruce said, as he and Thor hurried to Fenrir.

            “Give it a moment,” He said, just as the manacles snapped off of Fenrir’s wrists.

            The results were immediate. Fenrir stopped thrashing around and curled into himself. Bruce reached out a hand to try and comfort his friend but had it slapped away with a growl. Looking down Bruce could see black hair beginning to sprout up along his arms and neck.

            Fenrir flipped onto his side as his arms seemed to snap and grow. Bruce could do nothing but step back and watch as Fenrir’s jaw stretched to allow room for his new fangs. In less than a minute Fenrir was more wolf than anything else.

            “Fenris, Fenris, try to stay calm,” Thor said, trying to wrap his arms around a nephew that had nearly doubled in size.

            As the transformation began to finish, Fenrir seemed to calm down. He pushed himself up off of the floor and onto his new legs.

            “Are you alright?” Thor asked.

            Without warning Fenrir lowered his head and smashed into Thor. The impact was enough to send Thor flying down the hall. The rest of the team stood stunned. Not knowing if they should go help Thor or try to stop Fenrir. Before anyone could make a decision, Fenrir ran. It only took him three bounds before he was breaking through a window and out of the Tower.

            “Now this,” Puck said. “Should be interesting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bye, Fenrir.  
> Hope to hear what you all think. See you next chapter.


	20. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like to say that when I originally outlined this story almost everything here took place in chapter 10. Darn you Fenrir for being so loveable/torturable. Those words are synonyms... right?

 

            Broken glass covered the floor around the window. Everyone stood staring at the spot where Fenrir had just vanished.

            “Well, I hate to just leave, but I don’t want to miss the show,” Puck said, heading for the window.

            “No!” Thor said, hurling his hammer at Puck. “Don’t let him leave!”

            Puck managed to slide out of the way of Mjolnir only to find himself being tackled by Tony. Sadly though, without his suit, Puck didn’t even need his magic to flip Tony over his shoulder.

            “Undo what you did to Fenrir NOW!” Thor yelled as Mjolnir flew back into his hand.

            “Why would I do that? This is the best part,” Puck said. Thor prepared to throw his hammer again only for Puck to disappear.

            “You’re being rather dramatic,” Puck said, reappearing across the room. “It’s only temporary. The effects will wear off in a few hours just like they always do.”

            “Fenrir can’t wait that long,” Thor tightened his grip on his hammer as he spoke. “I won’t let him lose his freedom again.”

            “I admire your protective instincts, I really do, but I can’t change him back yet. No one would ever learn anything that way,” Puck said, moving his hands out to his sides. “I’m sure that you’ll figure it out when-” Just as Puck’s hands began to glow he was interrupted.

            While talking to Thor Puck had been completely unaware of Clint moving around the room. He also hadn’t noticed when Clint had grabbed one of Fenrir’s abandoned manacles. Grabbing one of Puck’s wrists, Clint managed to slam one of the cuffs in place before the man could shake him off.

            “Now are you ready to talk?” Clint asked.

            “These were designed for Asgardian magic,” Puck said, looking at Clint pityingly. “They won’t have any effect on me.” Puck moved his hands again in an attempt to teleport. This quickly resulted in him lying face down on the floor.

            “Why would anyone agree to wear these?” Puck demanded, staring at the cuffs in horror. “You Asgardians are a truly twisted race.”

            Steve went to stand in front of him as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “Change him back, or the cuffs stay on.”

            “You really don’t understand what I’m doing here do you?” Puck asked, looking at each member of the team in turn. “I’m helping him. Just like I helped all of you.” They all stared at Puck in disbelief.

            “You’re insane,” Tony said.

            “And you’re in denial,” Puck countered. “The spells that I used on you all, they can’t make something out of nothing. All I did was take what you whatever you were repressing and bring it to the surface. I may have added a little enthusiasm but the sentiment was all yours.”

            “You actually think this helps?” Clint asked.

            “I’m just trying to help you all see the truth. Showing you what it is you really want,” Puck said.

            “What we want,” Thor said, stepping forward to stand with Steve. “Is for you to remove you spell, and turn my nephew back.”

            “You realize of course that you’ll have to take the cuffs of to make that happen,” Puck said with a smirk.

            “Will you turn him back?” Steve asked.

            “Fine,” Puck pouted, as he help out his arm. Thor quickly removed the cuff from Puck.

            “There, done,” Puck said, waving his hand in front of his face.

            “Just like that?” Tony said.

            “No reason to draw it out. Though I still say you are missing a great opportunity,” Puck said as he stood up and made his way toward the window.

            “Where do you think you’re going?” Clint demanded.

            “I can’t stand to see my works unappreciated. I need to find something else to do,” Puck jumped onto the window sill and made a point to avoid stepping on any broken glass. “It’s a shame,” He said, taking one last look at Steve. “You really could have used my help. You’re on your own now.”

                                                            &&&&&&&&

            As Steve walked the streets of the city, he continued to wonder if Puck had meant his last remark as a jab at him. Or if he had just been faster to realize that, even though Fenrir was no longer a wolf, they still had no idea where he was. They’d known that Puck would have had cameras disabled, like when Fenrir had been with Clint, but there were still eyewitnesses to go on. When they’d left the Tower it had seemed like finding Fenrir would be pretty simple. New Yorkers were proving to be entirely unhelpful.

            “A wolf?” The man asked.

            “Yes, a giant wolf. It would have been running by here about twenty minutes ago,” Steve said. The man continued to look at him as though he were crazy.

“I saw a talking gorilla a few months back. Is that what you mean? Did he get out again?” The girlfriend of the man asked.

“No, we caught him a while ago,” Steve said, turning to leave. “Thanks anyway.” He waited until he was out of earshot of the couple before trying to get Tony on his com.

“Any luck, Stark?” He asked as he walked.

“Nothing on my end. I just talked to Bruce and he hasn’t had any leads either,” Tony said.

“For the love of- how has no one seen him?” Steve demanded.

“It’s New York. There are aliens and monsters attacking every other week,” Tony explained. “You get used to it.”

“This is ridiculous,” Steve complained. “How are we supposed to find one man in a city with over eight million people?”

“Don’t worry, I having Jarvis scan mobile devices and social messaging sites for a few key words. People might not pay attention to a wolf anymore, but a naked guy wandering the streets is always worth a few pictures.” Tony said.

“Tony!” Steve said.

“Just don’t lose your blanket,” Tony said, closing their connection.

            Steve wanted to call Tony back and tell him to take things more seriously, but they’d been working together long enough for him to know that that wouldn’t do anything. And, while he would have liked it if he’d put it a little less jokingly, it wasn’t as though Tony’s advice had been bad.

            When Puck had put his spell on Fenrir he’d been too preoccupied with the fact that Fenrir was turning into a colossal wolf to notice much else. In truth, none of them had. Luckily Bruce had enough experience with Hulk that he was able to connect the pile of torn clothes on the floor to what had just happened. He’d also made sure to grab a blankets for everyone to take with them on their search.

            Stopping to ask another group of people if they’d seen a giant wolf, he began to wish that he’d taken the time to put his uniform on before leaving. It may not have gotten him any more information but at least people didn’t look at Captain America like he was a possible lunatic. He hated to sound like Tony but he’d thought that by now most people would recognize him out of the red, white and blue. But half of the people he talked to seemed to think that he was involved in some sort of publicity stunt and the rest just thought he was a joke. And, necessary as it may have been, wandering the streets of New York with a blanket under his arm didn’t do much to help his credibility.

            “Clint,” He said, switching his com back on. “Tell me you’ve got something.”

            “No luck. I heard about this naked guy running around Central Park but… let’s just say that it wasn’t Fenrir, and leave it at that,” Clint said.

            Steve fought the urge to punch a wall. Fenrir had only been out of the Tower for a little over twenty minutes. He couldn’t have gotten that far!

            “I’m gonna start checking alleys,” Clint said. “At this point he’s probably just trying to stay out of sight until he can find a way to get back unseen.”

            “Just keep me posted,” Steve said, shutting down his com again.

            A voice down the street interrupted his thoughts. “It was a monster!!” Steve hurried over to the voice and saw that it belonged to a kid. “Mom, I’m not making it up! It was huge and it came running right at me,” The boy continued to his mom.

            “Joey, I’m serious,” The woman said, placing a hand on the little girl who was currently wrapped around her leg. “You’re scaring your sister; now stop it.”

            “But it’s true!” The boy insisted. Steve ran over before the mom could interrupt the boy again.

            “Excuse me, the monster,” Steve began, getting an angry look from the mother. “It wasn’t a wolf was it?”

            The boy nodded, excited to finally have someone listen to him. “I was coming home from my friend’s house and it just came running out of nowhere. It was huge and hairy and-” At this point the boy’s mother grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away.

            “That’s enough, we’re going home,” She said, grabbing her little girl and heading down the street. Steve called out after them asking where he had seen the wolf, and was able to get a street name before the boy was told to stop talking.

            Steve didn’t waste a second getting to the street the boy had mentioned. Hoping that Fenrir would still be around somewhere. After a few minutes of running up and down the street he decided to take Clint’s approach and start checking alleys. It was in back of a dead end alley that he found him, huddled naked in the dark between a wall and a dumpster.

            “Fenrir?” He said quietly. Fenrir, who hadn’t realized that anyone had been nearby, immediately recoiled at the sound of his name and pushed himself tighter against the wall.

            “Hey, it’s just me,” Steve said, hoping that he sounded reassuring. “We took care of Puck. Everything is okay now so, if you’ll just come out of there, we can go back home.”

            Fenrir looked up at Steve. Steve saw a face full of fear and pain and blood. So much blood.

            “Jesus, Fenrir,” Steve said, slowly registering the blood smeared around Fenrir’s chest and mouth. “What happened?” He asked. All the while silently praying to himself, “please be a dog. Please say it was a dog.”

            “I had to,” Fenrir said. Shaking as he spoke. “The spell, it was making me- I had to do it.”

            “Fenrir, I need you to tell me what happened,” Steve said, dreading what he might hear.

            “The spell made me want to hunt. I was…I was afraid and I wanted to find somewhere to hide but there were already people here. I, I didn’t have a choice,” Fenrir said, pulling into himself.

            “We should get out of here,” Steve said, struggling to figure out what to do next. “Why don’t you come out of there and I can call Thor and Tony to come and get us.” He said, putting down the blanket to offer Fenrir a hand up. After considering it for a moment, Fenrir reached out to let Steve pull him up.

            Almost as soon as Steve had Fenrir standing up, he was back on the ground. Now that Fenrir wasn’t curled up Steve could see what he hadn’t noticed before; that Fenrir’s right leg was a bloody mess.

            “What happened?” He asked.

            “I told you. I had to do it,” Fenrir repeated. Kneeling down in front of Fenrir, Steve took hold of either side of Fenrir’s head and looked him in the eye.

            “Fenrir. Tell me what happened to your leg,” He ordered.

            “The spell didn’t just make me shift to the wolf. It made me want to hunt,” Fenrir said. His voice quivering as he spoke. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone so I thought I could hide. I came here but there were two children here already. When they saw me they started screaming and… they ran away. All I wanted to do was chase after them, but I knew how that would end. It was all going to happen **again**. So I made sure that I wouldn’t be able to chase anyone.” Suddenly the blood on Fenrir’s face has a completely different meaning.

            “You bit through your leg?” Steve asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

            Fenrir looked up at Steve with huge eyes that were quickly filling with tears.

            “I had to,” Fenrir said.

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

 

            “How is he?” Steve asked, as soon as Bruce entered the room. Steve had gotten Fenrir back to the Tower as quickly as he could and, since then, Bruce and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. surgeons had been in the med bay working on Fenrir’s leg. Aside from a call from Jarvis a half hour earlier,telling Thor that he could come back, the team had been left in the dark.

            “He, he’s going to be okay,” Bruce said. The team stared at him until he continued. “He won’t be able to walk for a while. He really did a number on his leg. To be honest if we hadn’t found out the trick with him and ice then he probably would have lost the leg. Even with Asgardian healing.”

            “I still can’t believe he bit himself,” Tony said. “Who does that?”

            “He was desperate,” Clint said.

            “He’ll be alright though?” Steve asked.

            “Yes. Physically he’ll be just fine,” Bruce said. His phrasing didn’t go unnoticed and they all waited to see what he would say next.

            “Before I came out here I was talking to Thor. He has some concerns and so do I,” Bruce continued. “The rules for Fenrir being released from Asgard, and allowed to come to Earth, were that he keep the manacles on and not use his magic. Technically, today, he did both.”

            “Not on purpose. He was under a spell,” Steve said.

            “Odin might not see it that way,” Bruce said. “Thor isn’t sure how closely he might be having Fenrir watched, but if anyone saw this then it would look like he was breaking the terms of his release.”

            “I have at least a dozen lawyers that could argue that one,” Tony offered.

            “We might need them,” Bruce muttered.

“That’s insane. So he lost the cuffs for a few hours,” Clint said. “It’s not like he’s not wearing them now. I saw you put them back on him as soon as Steve brought him in the door.”

“And maybe that’ll be enough,” Bruce said. “But Thor is worried that his father might send some soldiers to come and take him back to Asgard.”

“Well that’s not happening,” Tony said, standing up from his seat. “Jarvis, anyone from Asgard shows up I want the entire Tower on full alert. And my armor comes directly to me.”

“Indeed, Sir,” Jarvis said.

“Aside from Tony putting the Tower on lockdown, what can we do?” Steve asked, doing his best to block out the rest of the conversation that Tony was having with is AI.

“Thor wants to have someone with Fenrir at all times. Just for the next few days, until we know what Odin’s response is going to be,” Bruce said. “We each take shifts and if anyone comes and tries anything-”

            “We can blow them back to outer space,” Tony said, interrupting Bruce.

            “Basically,” Bruce said.

 

                                                          &&&&&&&&

 

It had been over a year since he had last seen Stark’s Tower and the place was just as garish as he remembered it. As Loki stepped through his portal, and onto the roof, he took a moment to examine his surroundings. He could feel that something was not quite as it should be. Reaching out with his magic it didn’t take him long to discover the problem. Alarms. Somehow, despite his magic, they had been able to detect his arrival.

Gripping his new staff tightly, Loki laughed to himself. It made no difference if the Midgardians had a few new tools to use against him. He had something far better. Heading toward the door Loki smiled at his new weapon. He hadn’t wanted to waste any time in retrieving his son from his new captors, but he’d known he couldn’t take any chances with his son’s freedom on the line. Thankfully the Dwarves had been able to finish at least one of the weapons he’d requested. With this new weapon none of the Avengers would be able to keep him from his son.

As he approached the door to the building, he heard footsteps approaching on the other side. Loki smiled expectantly. It didn’t matter who was about to come through the door. He would make sure that they paid for what they had done to Fenrir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was certainly exciting. Can't wait to hear what you all think of this chapter. Hope to be reading your reviews. See you next chapter.


	21. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this at 1 in the morning. Please let me know if there are any glaring errors. Or if my fight scene ended with anyone losing a head where they shouldn't.... Sadly that has happened before.

 

           

            “So I just got off the phone with some of my lawyers,” Tony said, pouring himself a drink. “They wanted to know if you could get them a written copy of the terms of Fenrir’s release. Oh, and they also wanted me to ask if stopping guards from taking Fenrir could start a war with Asgard?”

            “I don’t think so,” Thor said, turning away from the window he’d been looking out of. “But it seems that I no longer know the lengths my father is capable of sinking to.” Thor hated to admit his doubts in his father. Not so long ago he’d been strong in his beliefs of the Allfather’s goodness and wisdom. But since learning the part he’d played in Fenrir’s imprisonment on Svartalfheim, Thor wasn’t sure what to expect from him.

            “Well, I’m sure designing weapons for an epic space battle can’t be that difficult,” Tony muttered to himself. “Either way, my lawyers are pretty sure that they could fight this.” Tony insisted.

            “Assuming that Asgard decides to respect Midgardian legal rulings,” Bruce said.

            “Don’t underestimate my lawyers. They can convince people of anything,” Tony said.

            “I don’t know how much use it will be,” Thor said. “But if you believe that these wordsmiths can help then it is worth the chance.” Tony began to speak again when Jarvis interrupted him.

            “Sirs, I think you should know that we appear to have a visitor,” Jarvis said.

            “I don’t believe this,” Tony said. “They actually sent someone. Why didn’t my alarms go off?”

            “Who is with Fenrir now?” Thor demanded as he summoned Mjolnir.

            “Clint was in there last time I checked,” Bruce said.

            “Excuse me!” Jarvis shouted. “But before you all suit up for battle I think you should know that our rooftop visitor is Loki.”

            “Loki?” Thor said. A smile starting to spread on his face. “This is wonderful.”

            “Not really sharing the joy here, Thor,” Tony said, as his suit finished assembling around him.

            “Don’t you understand? He’s finally heard about Fenrir,” Thor said, surprised that his teammates still seemed to be preparing for a battle.

            “Or he’s just here to fight like he usually is,” Tony said.

            “Let me go up to the roof and talk to him then,” Thor insisted. “If he doesn’t yet know of Fenrir then I can tell him.” Before anyone could respond Thor was hurrying toward the stairs. There was so much that Loki should hear before he went to see Fenrir.

            “Wait, Thor,” Bruce said.

            “Just give me time to explain,” Thor called over his shoulder. Racing up the stairs to the roof as fast as he could, Thor could hardly contain his excitement. Loki was finally here! Fenrir had been getting more and more worried by the fact that Loki hadn’t come for him, but not anymore. As for Loki himself; losing Fenrir had all but destroyed him and he’d never been quite the same after. But now things could go back to the way that they’d been before. Loki and Fenrir would be so happy to see one another. And Loki would be so eager to make up for lost time that surely he would finally give up on his plans to rule Midgard.

            As he reached to open the door to the roof his smile grew even larger at the thought that they could **finally** stop being enemies. Thor pulled the door open and saw Loki standing just a few feet away.

            “Loki,” Thor said, happily.

            “Hello, Thor,” Loki said, clutching tightly to a staff at his side. “Where’s my son?”

 

                        &&&&&&&&                                                                                                                       

           

            Clint wanted to say something to Fenrir. He really did. Anyone would be upset after the day he’d had, and the fact that he had barely moved or made a sound since Clint had come into the room had basically confirmed the fact. Clint wanted to say something, but what do you say in a situation like this?

            “You were transformed into a wolf today and almost ripped off your own leg. You clearly have some unresolved issues about your past. Now I know I beat the shit out of you a few short weeks ago; but I’m here if you want to talk.”

            Looking over at Fenrir, Clint decided that it was probably best if he just kept his mouth shut. Just because Fenrir had been willing to tag along to the circus with him didn’t mean that he’d really gotten past the incident in the library. If he did want to talk to anyone then it would be Thor or someone that he actually liked. Best for everyone if he just sat in his chair and watched TV until it was time for Bruce to take over and for him to leave.                       

            “Sirs,” Jarvis said, distracting Clint from Master Chef and making Fenrir look up from his bed. “I was asked not to alert you of any developments until Thor returned, but I think it would be best if Fenrir were brought to the roof as soon as possible.”                    

            “What’s going on?” Clint asked.

            “Loki arrived on the roof a short while ago,” Jarvis said.

            “Oh, hell,” Clint muttered at the same time Fenrir sat up straight in bed.

            “My father’s here?” Fenrir asked, instantly alert.

            “Things do not seem to be going well,” Jarvis said. “Their fight is quickly escalating and I think that Fenrir’s presence may help to calm the situation.”

            “What? Why are they fighting?” Fenrir asked, meanwhile Clint thought it best to stay quiet and make sure his arrows were ready.                                                            

            “It seems that there is some misunderstanding as to Fenrir’s presence here,” Jarvis explains.

            “Wha- I have to get to the roof,” Fenrir said, turning to Clint.

            “Jarvis,” Clint said. “Get Bruce and Tony-“

            “No!” Fenrir interrupted. “There isn’t time. You have to get me up there. Before they hurt each other.”

            “You are not asking me this,” Clint said.

“They’re fighting because of me. I have to get them to stop,” Fenrir said.

“I am not carrying you to the roof so that you can have a reunion with **_Loki_** ,” Clint says.

            “Please,” Fenrir begged. “Please, he’s my father I need to- please.”

            Seeing that Clint was making no move to the bed Fenrir began pushing himself up. Swinging his legs over the side of his bed he got ready to try and stand when he felt Clint wrapping an arm around his waist. Clint pulled him the rest of the way out of the bed and began pulling Fenrir toward the door.

            “Thank yo-” Fenrir began.

            “Don’t talk,” Clint said sharply. “I might realize what it is I’m doing.”

           

           

 

                                    &&&&&&&&

 

            Thor ducked out of the way as Loki swung his new staff at him. Loki cursed his luck as another shot missed its mark. His new weapon wasn’t supposed to miss.

            The dwarves had told him when he’d arrived that the weapons weren’t complete. That they wouldn’t be able to do all that they were meant to. But the staff, the beautiful staff with the curved blade, which was so close to completion that he couldn’t leave it behind. Not when he knew what he would be up against.

            Given more time the staff would have never missed a mark. Every swing in close combat would have landed where intended. And any injury made by its blade would not stop bleeding for weeks. If he’d been able to give them a few more months then it could have been done. But with his son trapped on Midgard he couldn’t afford to leave it behind. Though even if some of his shots missed, and the wounds would heal, Loki could be safe in the knowledge that, at the very least, he could make Thor bleed.

            “Did you really think that I would never realize that he was here?” Loki said, swinging his staff and landing a slice across Thor’s arm.

            “No! I wanted you to know,” Thor said. He quickly stepped back to avoid another hit from Loki’s weapon.

            “Wanted me to know?” Loki said, momentarily stunned. “Are you truly so proud of your actions?”

            “I took him out of his prison cell, I got him off of Svartalfheim,” Thor declared, taking advantage of Loki’s distraction to take a swing of his own.

            “Let him out just so you could bring him here,” Loki said. “Pretending mercy to justify what you wanted. Just like Odin. Your father would be proud.” With the last word Loki dived at Thor and managed to leave a gash along his cheek before Thor was able to defend against him. The two of them prepared for their next attack when the door to the roof slammed open.

            “Stop!!” A man’s voice called out. Loki spun around to redirect his attack and saw his son standing in the doorway.

            “Fenris,” Loki whispered, allowing the staff to drop to his side. In all the time he had been chasing rumors about his son he had been picturing the little boy he’d last seen on Asgard. But the Fenrir he was looking at now was grown. He had missed everything.

            “Papa?” Fenrir said hesitantly, interrupting Loki’s thoughts. Without another thought Loki dropped the staff and ran to embrace his son.

            “I’m sorry,” Fenrir whispered to Loki as he returned the hug. “I’m so sorry for everything.”

            “It wasn’t your fault,” Loki said, holding on tighter. “I should have taught you better.”

            “I missed you,” Fenrir said, speaking over his father’s words. “I missed you so much.”

            “I’m sorry that I never came for you,” As Loki finished speaking he noticed a shift in Fenrir’s weight as he was suddenly supporting his son. Looking away from Fenrir to determine the source of the change he saw that _Barton_ was stepping away from them. He only needed to look his son over for a moment before he realized why his son needed someone to hold him up.

            “You,” Loki snarled, before using his magic to toss Clint across the roof and into a wall.

            “No!” Fenrir cried, pulling away from Loki. “What are you doing?”

            “I’ll make them all pay for hurting you,” Loki said.

            “What? No, papa, they didn’t hurt me. I did this,” Fenrir insisted.

            “It’s true Loki,” Thor said, receiving a glare from his brother. “We’ve been taking care of him.”

            Loki glanced down at Fenrir’s leg before replying. “And you’ve clearly been doing a remarkable job at that.”

            “He’s telling the truth,” Fenrir said. “He and the others have been looking out for me. They’ve been helping me.”

            “Very well,” Loki said, still not entirely convinced of Thor’s innocence. “If this is true than I suppose I owe you my gratitude.” Thor smiled and finally relaxed out of his fighting stance.

            “Well, now that all that is settled,” Loki said, raising a hand to smooth his son’s hair. “There really is no reason for us to linger.

“What do you mean?” Thor asked.

“It means that I’m taking my son, and we’re going.” Loki said, not taking his eyes off of his son.

“No,” Fenrir said, pulling away from Loki. “I can’t go anywhere with you.”

            “Fenrir needs to stay here, Loki,” Thor said.

            “My son belongs with me,” Loki shot back.

            “No, you don’t understand. I have to stay with Thor,” Fenrir said, holding tighter to his father’s arm to maintain his balance now that he was no longer being held.

            “This is nonsense. You are coming with me,” Loki said.

            “No!” Fenrir said, beginning to panic. “I can never ever go with you.”

            Loki immediately spun around to glare at Thor. “What did you do?”

            “Loki, you need to listen,” Thor said.

            “Did Fenrir listen to you? Is that why the thought of me taking him away has him terrified.”

            “Loki-” Thor started.

            “It wasn’t enough that you had everything?” Loki said, not letting Thor finish. “You had to take him too?”

            “Papa, please let me explain,” Fenrir said.

            “No need,” Loki said, pulling out of Fenrir’s grip and looking between him and Thor. “I’ve heard it all before. If you’d really prefer this bumbling oaf to me then you two are welcome to each other.” Without another word, Loki used his magic and was gone.

            “Papa,” Fenrir said quietly, as he collapsed to his knees and stared at the spot where his father had stood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was happy. Review this chapter and the next one won't be so sad. :)


	22. Chapter 21

“Have you seen Thor yet today?” Steve asked Tony when he came down to breakfast the next morning.

            “If he isn’t with Balto then odds are he’s off moping in a corner because his family reunion didn’t go the way he wanted it to.” Tony said, as he handed Steve a plate of what looked like a mix of charcoal and raw meat. Steve resisted the impulse to hand the plate back and, instead, took it to the table.

            “Give him a break,” Bruce said. “He’s been waiting for Loki to show up since he brought Fenrir back. He’s disappointed.”

            “It’s **Loki**. Did he really just think they would all hug and everything would be fine?” Tony said. “What happened last night was inevitable. No one could have gone up to that roof last night and not seen that coming.” Tony paused and turned to look over at Clint. “Speaking of, how’s your head?”

            “Go to hell, Stark,” Clint groaned, holding a bag of frozen peas to his head.

            “Don’t be mad at me just because karma bitch slapped you last night,” Tony said.

            “Sir,” Jarvis interrupted. “Miss Potts has arrived and I believe that she is bringing up the items that you requested.”

            “Okay this is going to be special,” Tony said, his grin nearly splitting his face.

            “How’s Fenrir?” Pepper asked as she came in, at the same time as Tony asked. “Do you have them?”

            “I will never understand your priorities,” Pepper said, handing Tony a paper bag and heading down the hall.

            “Aren’t you going to stay?” Tony asked.

“I read them on the way over. I’m going to go see Fenrir,” Pepper said. “Oh, Steve you don’t need to pretend to eat that. I remembered that it was Tony’s day to make breakfast and Happy’s going to pick something up for everyone.” Pepper said, as she headed down the hall.

“Thank god,” Steve said, pushing the plate in front of him away. He appreciated that Tony occasionally tried to make breakfast but, even with his immune system, he was pretty sure if he ever ate any of it then he would end up in the hospital.

            “Forget about the food. In fact forget everything else going on in the world right now, because I have in my hands something truly beautiful,” Tony said. Steve watched as Tony poured the contents of the bag onto the table.

            “Oh God,” Bruce said, staring at the magazines that were now covering the table. “You didn’t finally agree to pose for Playgirl, did you?”

            “Not yet,” Tony said, handing one of the magazines to Clint.

            “Tony, I have a grade three concussion from the God of Assholes throwing me into a wall. I really doubt that anything in here could-” Clint stopped as he saw the cover of what Tony had just handed him. A smile spread over his face.

            “Oh no,” Bruce said, having grabbed one for himself.

            “Not going to lie, I’m feeling a little bit better,” Clint confessed.

            “Wait until you read the article,” Tony said.

            “What is it?” Steve said, reaching for the pile only to have his arm stopped by Bruce.

            “You may want to brace yourself for this,” Bruce said

            “How bad can it be?” Steve said, grabbing a copy. At first he was surprised to see a picture of him carrying Fenrir back to the Tower from the day before. This wasn’t so weird, there were plenty of pictures of him after missions. He was still trying to figure out what had made the magazine stand out to Tony when he saw the headline. **_Captain America’s Dirty Secret?_** Immediately he flipped open the magazine to read the article.

            _It looks like the leader of the Avengers may not be as pure as he’d like us to believe. Yesterday afternoon Steve Rogers, aka. Captain America, was seen hurrying from the vicinity of New York’s most infamous fetish club; and he wasn’t alone. A gorgeously shirtless Rogers was carrying a man who didn’t seem to have much on under the blanket he was wrapped in.Early speculation had labeled Roger’s companion as a possible victim of some accident despite the beautifully calm and attack free day in question. But if that were the case then doesn’t it seem like the first place he’d be taken would be a hospital? Tragically for the inhabitants of Manhattan, Captain America doesn’t usually take victims home.      All this, combined with eyewitness reports that the man was bleeding and had more than a few visible scars, has more than a few of us wondering- what is Steve Rogers doing with his free time?_

            “This is not funny,” Steve insisted as Tony and Clint nearly fell out of their chairs laughing.

            “Yeah, you’re right, that article is a little dry. But this one is much more vivid.” Tony said, holding up another tabloid.

            “All I did was carry him back to the Tower. How does anyone get this out of that?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know. We save a lot of people and you’ve never managed to lose your shirt before.” Clint said.

“I had to use something to tie up his leg, it was practically falling apart,” Steve said.

“No I totally get it,” Clint said. “I mean, you could have ripped off a piece of the blanket but, you know, shirt works too.”

“Hey, Captain Kirk never missed an opportunity to lose his shirt. Cap’s just keeping the tradition alive” Tony said.

            “How many of these are there?” Steve asked, starting at the pile on the table.

            “I’ve been able to find about a dozen that ran it as an article. But once you start looking online it is everywhere. People love it,” Tony said.

            “This is insane,” Steve said, feeling stunned.

            “It’s not that bad,” Bruce reassured him. “It’s just a stupid tabloid story. People are amused by it now but in a few weeks it’ll fade just like all the others.”

            “What do you mean others?” Steve asked after a pause.

            “Just that it’s not like this is the first time that some rumor about you has ended up in the paper,” Bruce explained. “Remember last year when people thought you and Tony were secretly engaged? People got bored with that and they’ll get bored with this.”

            “So in the meantime I just?” Steve said.

            “Stay away from fetish clubs for one,” Clint said.

            “This is humiliating,” Steve said, slumping down on the table.

            “Listen, calm down. Pepper’s already issued a press release explaining that Fenrir was the victim of an attack and that you were just helping him.” Tony said.

            “You think that’ll make a difference?” Steve asked.

            “People tend to listen to her,” Tony said. “She also has us all scheduled for a few publicity photos. It was overdue anyway. No one’s taken a picture of me in my new armor yet. How’s anyone supposed to truly appreciate what I’m doing if-”

            “Focus Tony,” Bruce interrupted.

            “Anyway, Pep’s got a guy coming next week. He’s going to take a few group shots of everyone and then everyone gets a few solos,” Tony explained. “Don’t worry Cap, we’ll have him pose you with a puppy or something. Give everyone something nice and wholesome to look at and next thing you know everyone will have forgotten your kinky sex habits.”

            “Oh, God,” Steve said with a groan.

            “Don’t listen to him,” Bruce said.

            “It’s not that. I just thought of something.” Steve admitted. His teammates stared at him and waited for him to say what he was thinking. “What if Loki sees one of these articles?”

           

                                               &&&&&&&&

           

            It had been strange enough when Thor hadn’t wanted to come and work out with his teammates. Normally he never missed a chance to lift, smash, fight, or generally do anything to show off to his teammates how strong he was. So when he finally did come into the room and actually asked everyone to stop training, it was clear that something serious was on his mind.

            “I am worried about Fenrir,” Thor said.

            That wasn’t what anyone in the room wanted to hear. After Loki had disappeared Fenrir had practically been in shock and they’d needed to carry him back down to his room. It had been three days and, as far as most of them knew, he hadn’t left it since.

“It’s not his leg is it?” Bruce asked, stretching out of one of his yoga forms.

            “No,” Thor said. “He is mending well, considering the severity of his injury. It’s not his body that is the problem. I’m not sure where his problem lies.”

            “What’s going on?” Clint asked.

            “Since Loki left Fenrir has barely spoken a word. He just lies in his bed and stares off. At first I thought that Fenrir’s pain was caused by his father’s departure but, now, I believe that it merely made things worse,” Thor paused for a moment and the team waited to hear what he would say next.

            “I went to see Fenrir just after you repaired his leg and, I realize now, that he was already like this. He just lies there refusing to speak and when he does, the things he says are strange. And now he is refusing to eat.”

            “What exactly is he saying?” Bruce asked.

            “Different things,” Thor said. “He’ll begin talking of danger and mistakes but I can make sense of none of it. I was hoping that you would talk to him.” Thor said to Bruce.

“Me?” Bruce said surprised.

“He considers you a friend,” Thor explained. “I thought that he might talk to you. And perhaps you can make sense of what is going through his head.”

“I guess I can try,” Bruce said, as he and Thor headed out the door.

 

                        &&&&&&&&

           

            “You?” Fenrir said, looking up with surprise as Steve entered his room. He had only just managed to get rid of Bruce and now here was someone else. “Which one of them sent you?” Fenrir asked as he settled back into his bed.

“What makes you-” Steve began.

“It was either Bruce or Thor. One of them asked you to come talk to me. So which one was it?” Fenrir asked.

            “Pepper, actually. She was hoping that you might talk to me,” Steve said, still standing awkwardly in the doorway. He still had no idea why she had thought he would have more luck than Thor or Bruce, but she had insisted that he try.

            “Surprising. I would have thought she would send Tony,” Fenrir said flatly.

            “Do you want to talk to Tony?” Steve asked.

            “I’d prefer not to,” Fenrir said.

            “Alright, well-” Steve began.

            “You can go now,” Fenrir interrupted. “I don’t wish to talk to you either.”

            “Thor is really worried about you,” Steve said.

            “Thor is a fool. And he’s wasting his time,” Fenrir said.

            It took a minute for Steve to come up with a response after that. Had Fenrir really just insulted Thor? Pepper was right, whatever was going on with Fenrir was a lot bigger than his dad not sticking around.

            “He just wants to help you. He cares about you,” Steve said.

            “That’s what makes him a fool,” Fenrir muttered. Steve was about to try a different approach when Fenrir spoke again.

            “Why would she send you? Thor is my uncle so of course he will try to make me talk. Bruce and Pepper have spent time with me so it makes sense that they would think I would open up to them. But why would anyone think that I would share anything with you?” Fenrir asked, he was now leaning up on his arm so he could look Steve in the face.

            “You were willing to talk to me once before,” Steve said, remembering the last time he’d been in Fenrir’s room. “I think she was hoping that it might happen again.”

            “I hate to disappoint her but it won’t. You should leave,” Fenrir said.

            “Don’t think I can do that,” Steve said.

            “Get out,” Fenrir said.

            “No. Thor and Pepper are worried about you. Honestly I’m starting to see what they mean,” Steve said.

            “I’m fine,” Fenrir hissed.

            “You don’t sound fine,” Steve replied.

            “And how do I sound? If you know me so well, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?” Fenrir said.

            “You’re right,” Steve said, stepping into Fenrir’s room. “I don’t know you that well. But even I know how close you and Thor are. You calling him a fool doesn’t really fit.”

            “He is a fool. How I feel about him doesn’t change that,” Fenrir snarled.

            “So this is all about something Thor did? Did you two have a fight or something?” Steve asked, pulling over a chair so that he could sit in front of Fenrir’s bed. He wondered if it could really be that simple. Fenrir saw what Steve was doing and sighed as he realized that he wasn’t going to get rid of the man any time soon.

            “Look around you. Where are we right now?” Fenrir asked.

            “Um, we’re in your room,” Steve said.

            “Exactly,” Fenrir said. Noticing the confused look on Steve’s face he decided to explain. “The deal that I made to come to Midgard said that I would never use my magic. Thor should have sent me back to Asgard the moment I changed back.”

            “You want to go back to Asgard?” Steve asked, feeling like he was still missing a key part of the story.

            “Of course I don’t **want** to go back to Asgard. But that was the deal we made. The longer we make them wait the worse it’s going to be,” Fenrir said.

            “You didn’t use your magic on purpose,” Steve began, immediately earning a look from Fenrir. “You’re wearing the cuffs again, and no one’s come yet, so it looks like they’re letting this one go.”

            “They shouldn’t,” Fenrir snapped. “I wanted to pretend that it wasn’t true. I was sure that I could be better but it always ends the same way.”

            “What are you talking about?” Steve asked.

            “I almost killed Thor,” Fenrir finally said. Steve stared at him in shock as Fenrir continued. “When I turned into a wolf all I wanted to do was go and hunt. Sink my teeth into something. Thor was holding onto me and I… I couldn’t stop looking at his throat.”

            “You shoved him away,” Steve said. “You didn’t even hurt him.”

            “This time,” Fenrir said. “But it’s my destiny to kill Thor. It’s only a matter of time before I lose the cuffs again.”

“It was a spell,” Steve said slowly. “Puck made you act that way. If you don’t want to kill Thor then don’t.”

“Just because I don’t want it to happen doesn’t mean it won’t,” Fenrir said quietly.

“You’re the one who gets to decide,” Steve said. Fenrir stared at him for a moment.

“Have you ever known any shape shifters?” Fenrir asked.

“No,” Steve replied, somewhat surprised at the turn the conversation had taken.

“People always think that shape shifters can just take on another form and wear it like a set of clothes. But that’s not how it is. When you take another form you become someone else. You’re still there but you’re different and the other life inside of you is just as alive and it can take over if you let it,” Fenrir explained. “I do not want to hurt Thor but that might not mean anything when I’m a wolf.”

“Puck made you want to hunt and instead you hid. You’ve already shown that you can be in control,” Steve insisted.

“And I have shown that I can completely lose control,” Fenrir said. “Don’t pretend like you have forgotten what I did on Svartalfheim. I know that my uncle told you about it.”

“What did happen on Svartalfheim?” Steve asked. Fenrir stared blankly at him for a moment. “Thor told us his version, I feel like there’s more to it.”

Steve and Fenrir stared at one another and Steve began to think that he wouldn’t get an answer. He’d been wondering about Fenrir’s story almost since he’d arrived at the Tower, but maybe it was something that Fenrir wasn’t ready to give up.

“I just wanted to show off,” Fenrir said, breaking the silence. “Shape shifting is one of the most difficult types of magic there is. I was playing with the other children and when I said that I could become a wolf they didn’t believe me. So I decided that I would prove it to them.

“There is a reason that my father often chooses to use illusions instead of transforming himself. There are countless stories of men who took a form so many times that they forgot which one was real. It is dangerous but I was so confident in my magic that I was changing to a wolf almost every day. With enough training and skill I could have maintained control, but it was too much for me.”

“You lost control.” Steve prompted, when it seemed like Fenrir wasn’t going to finish.

“A boy threw a rock at me and the wolf saw an attacker. I bit him and then there… there was screaming and the smell of blood was everywhere. Instinct took over. It wasn’t until my father used his magic to change me back that I’d even realized what I’d done,” Fenrir said.

“But then, you weren’t the one who attacked. The wolf was,” Steve said.

“You don’t understand. I am the wolf. He is an animal, with different wants than I have, but it’s still me. Just different,” Fenrir said. “Puck may have used his magic on me but he only brought out what was already there. Now I can’t deny that this is a part of me and it will always be there.”

            The two of them sat in silence for a while, neither of them knowing what to say next.

            “What you did that day was horrible, and you are going to have to live with that until the day you die,” Steve said. “But none of that changes who you are now.”

            “And who am I?” Fenrir asked.

            “You’re the type of person who would rather risk losing a leg than hurt more people,” Steve said. “Instinct and desire are one thing, but what you actually do means more. Wanting to hurt people is bad but resisting it, fighting to make sure people are safe, is what matters. In my book that makes you a good man.”

            They continued talking for a little bit after that but Steve could see that Fenrir needed some time to think and soon found an excuse to leave. As he walked down the hall he couldn’t help but think about when Thor had first told them what Fenrir had done. How he’d thought the kind of person who could kill a bunch of kids would have to be evil. The more he talked to Fenrir the more he wanted to go back in time and punch himself for not trying to figure out the rest of the story. For not being nicer to someone who so clearly needed to be shown some compassion.

            Seeing Thor coming down the hallway he hurried to meet him.

            “Thor, I just talked to Fenrir,” Steve began, but stopped when he saw the anger clearly stamped on Thor’s face. “Is something wrong?”

            “What is this?” Thor demanded, shoving something into Steve’s hands. Steve looked down and felt his stomach drop. God help him, Thor had found one of the tabloids.

            “Thor,” He said slowly, holding out his hands. “I can explain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to take a minute and thank everyone who has been reviewing and liking my story. It really does help to keep me motivated knowing that there are people who are enjoying my writing.  
> Keep the reviews coming and the next chapter will be nice and fluffy.... Mostly.


	23. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone still there? So sorry about the long delay. Life and house guests were conspiring against me. Please forgive me.

 

Pepper took a deep breath and smiled as she looked at the painting hanging in front of her. She hadn’t been thrilled when Tony had decided to relocated to New York full time. Stark headquarters was located in California and, as CEO, she knew that she would have to travel back and forth constantly. Tony had spent months trying to convince her that New York was the perfect place for them before she’d finally agreed. In all that time it had never occurred to him to just take her to the Museum of Modern Art. No, that had been Bruce’s idea. She had of course already decided that she was going to move to New York. Tony was a part of the Avengers and it made the most sense but, she wouldn’t lie, the museums had helped.

            Pepper looked up at the painting again. It was incredible how just looking at something so beautiful could make everything in her life seem more manageable. Looking over to her right she was reminded that those feelings weren’t always universal.

            “It’s called _Invisible Sun_ ,” Pepper said. “What do you think?”

            “It’s nice,” Fenrir said looking off to the side.

            “What do you feel, when you look at it?” She asked. Fenrir briefly glanced over at the painting.

            “Lonely,” Fenrir said, immediately dropping his eyes back to the floor.

            “Well, at least you have a theme,” Pepper said to herself. So far the paintings that Pepper had shown Fenrir had apparently inspired pain, sadness, isolation, and abandonment.

It wasn’t that Pepper had thought that a trip to the museum was going to magically fix all of Fenrir’s problems. But she had hoped that it might distract him, if only for a little bit, from everything that was going on in his head.

Pepper watched as Fenrir walked to the next painting. She had been so sure that a trip out of the Tower was exactly what Fenrir needed. Sadly though, since they’d arrived the only change in Fenrir had been his location.

“We can go home if you want to,” Pepper said.

“What?” Fenrir asked, looking back over to Pepper.

“We don’t need to stay,” Pepper repeated. “I can see you’re not really enjoying this.”

Fenrir quickly began shaking his head. “No,” He said. “I’m fine. We should continue.”

“I brought you here to get your mind off of things,” Pepper said. “Not to make you even more depressed.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more pleasant,” Fenrir said, looking over at her guiltily.

“You’re **allowed** to be sad,” Pepper said, reaching out to hold Fenrir’s hand. “If anyone has the right to be upset about what’s going on in their life then it’s you.”

“You were enjoying it,” Fenrir said.

“We can come back again. Some other day,” Pepper said. Fenrir didn’t say anything else for a moment. Pepper decided to take his silence as an answer and they began making their way toward the exit. She had almost forgotten that she was still holding Fenrir’s hand until she felt herself being tugged backwards. Turning around Pepper saw that Fenrir had stopped cold in front of one of the sculptures.

It was straight forward enough. An abstract figure of a man standing in front of a smaller version of himself. The plaque at the base read, _Father and Son in Bronze._

“I like this one,” Pepper said. Fenrir continued staring at the two abstract figures in front of him.

“I made him leave,” Fenrir whispered. Pepper looked over to him. “My father, he… he left because I made him think that I chose Thor over him.”

“You didn’t make him think anything,” Pepper insisted.

“I wanted my father back so badly,” Fenrir said, leaving Pepper to wonder if he’d even heard her. “I just wanted to see him. To hear him say that he didn’t hate me for the things I’d done. That he still cared for me. And I finally got what I wanted. He came to find me and… and now he’s gone again.”

“He’ll come back,” Pepper said.

“You don’t know that,” Fenrir said.

“Yes I do,” Pepper said, turning to meet Fenrir’s gaze. “I watched the security footage from the roof. I saw how happy he was when he saw you.”

“And how disgusted he was with me when he left,” Fenrir interrupted. Pepper chose to ignore the comment and keep going.

“He left for his own reasons but, sooner or later, he will be back,” Pepper said.

“Do you really believe that?” Fenrir asked.

“Yes,” Pepper said, believing it completely. Last she’d checked everyone in the Tower was certain that Loki would be back to see his son. They’d been somewhat less sure about how they were going to handle him wanting to stop in for visits; but she decided that it was probably best not to share that with Fenrir.

Fenrir stared searchingly at Pepper for a moment before returning his gaze to the sculpture.

“It really is a beautiful piece,” He said quietly.

 

                                   &&&&&&&&

 

“It’s fifteen stories tall and takes up two city blocks. It’s the biggest bookstore in the country,” Bruce explained to a stunned Fenrir.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many books in one place,” Fenrir said, reverently. Bruce watched him walk over to the nearest set of shelves and run his fingers lightly over the spines of the books.

“What about the college in Vanaheim? Thor said that the library there was the most extensive in ‘all the nine realms’,” Bruce said.

“Children aren’t allowed inside,” Fenrir said, pulling a book off the shelves and examining it. “I was too young before so I never had the chance to go there.”

“Just pick out whatever you want,” Bruce said, incredibly grateful that Fenrir was too distracted by the books to be see how uncomfortable his last comment had made him. He watched as Fenrir continued his walk down the aisles. He hadn’t been sure what Fenrir would think about the bookstore and he was relieved to see that he seemed to be enjoying it.

Not that Bruce had had much of a choice in whether or not he was going to take Fenrir out. Pepper had made it pretty clear to everyone the night before that the Avengers new mission was to cheer Fenrir up. This had of course put Bruce in uncharted territory since his main focus in the past several years had been how to keep his emotions neutral. As a result he’d become somewhat rusty when it came to getting someone excited and happy. So he’d decided to just stick with the basics and just take Fenrir to go and get some books. Seeing the way that Fenrir was looking at the store he felt like he’d made the right move.

“It’s divided up into sections. Where would you like to start?” Bruce asked.

“If I let myself start picking books then I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop,” Fenrir admitted.

“Don’t worry about it. Tony gave me one of his credit cards before we left,” Bruce said. Admittedly that wasn’t quite true. What Tony had actually done was leave his credit card lying on the kitchen table. But seeing as Tony basically paid for everything in the Tower, and that this was the third time Bruce had found one of his credit cards abandoned, he had a feeling that Tony wouldn’t mind too much.

Despite Fenrir’s initial reluctance to spending Tony’s money Bruce was eventually able to wear him down and within the first hour they’d amassed at least one bookshelves worth of books.

“I’m going to go see if they have a delivery service,” Bruce said. “That way we won’t need to cart all these home.” Fenrir nodded his understanding and quickly brought his attention back to the books. Bruce hurried to the front of the store to figure out how they were going to transport their increasingly large pile of books home.

He was almost at the registers when his eyes drifted over to scan the magazine rack. **_Tony Stark’s New Rival?_** Immediately caught his eye and he hurried to grab a copy. Just as he’d been afraid of, there on the cover was a photo of Pepper and Fenrir at the art museum. Bruce hurried to find the article.

_Was it really only a few weeks ago that Captain America was seen running through the streets carrying a mystery man? The Avengers were quick to release a statement saying that the Captain was simply helping the man in question. Or, more accurately, Pepper Potts issued a statement saying that the two were most certainly NOT in a relationship.   My my Miss Potts. You certainly were eager to clarify that little tidbit. Could it be that Tony Stark has some competition for his fiancé’s heart? She and her new friend certainly seemed comfortable together this past week when they were seen walking hand and hand through the Museum of Modern Art.   Once again we are left to wonder, who is this mystery man, and what is going on in that Tower?_

Bruce couldn’t decide whether to laugh or roll his eyes at what he was reading. Apparently the articles about Fenrir and Steve must have been more popular than he’d thought. Pepper didn’t usually get hit by the paparazzi, so people had probably already recognized Fenrir when they’d gone to take the pictures.

Bruce quickly sent a text to Pepper to let her know what was going on. Normally they wouldn’t have cared about some fictional tabloid story. Unfortunately they had recently learned that Thor was a little unclear about which stories in the news were true and which weren’t. It had taken them all nearly an hour to calm Thor down when he’d found the articles about Fenrir and Steve, and Bruce was hoping that they weren’t going to have to repeat that again any time soon.

Looking around him, Bruce decided that maybe it would be a good idea if he found Fenrir and they started heading for home before anyone took a picture of the two of them.

“Fenrir,” Bruce said, when he finally found him three floors from where they’d separated. “You think you have enough for one day?”

“Why do people think that you have a cat?” Fenrir asked him.

“Excuse me?” Bruce said. Fenrir held up what he’d been reading and Bruce realized that Fenrir had found the comics. “I guess the idea of the Hulk having a kitten makes people laugh.” He offered.

“There are stories about all of you,” Fenrir said, indicating the pile of comics laying on the floor next to him.

“Yeah, there is a comic line for each of us,” Bruce said, remembering how thrilled Tony and Clint had been when they’d discovered them the year before. “What do you think of them?”

“They are interesting,” Fenrir said, trading the comic in his hand for one featuring Captain America. “Are any of them true?”

            “Some of them. Tony’s entire life has been in the news, and he’s not exactly camera shy, so people don’t have to look too far for inspiration. Clint and Natasha are pretty private, so anything written about them is probably made up,” Bruce said. “People aren’t nearly as interested in writing about me as they are in writing the Hulk so those are usually made up too.

            “Steve is sort of a mix. If it’s set during World War Two then it’s probably based on something that really happened, but the ones set today are total nonsense.”

            “What about Thor?” Fenrir asked, putting the comic back on the pile.

            “The actual stories are made up but most writers have been good about capturing his personality, so they aren’t much of a stretch,” Bruce said. Judging by the smirk on Fenrir’s face, Bruce had the feeling that he’d already read a few Thor comics.

            They talked for a little longer but Fenrir could see that Bruce was ready to leave and they were soon making their way back to the Tower. Not, of course, before they’d taken the time to pay for Fenrir’s new comic collection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, I can write chapters that don't end with crippling emotional pain. Hope you all enjoyed this and that I haven't lost all my readers by making you wait. In case you want to assure me that you are still there, there is the comment section.   
> Read, review and I'll see you next chapter.


	24. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've hit 100 subscribers! Yay, we must celebrate! Schwarma for everyone!

One of the most confusing things in Clint’s life was how people never truly seemed to appreciate the vents. They really were the best part of any building. In addition to being one of the most comfortable places to stretch out and relax, they were the perfect place to pick up information. You found out all sorts of things that people didn’t want you to know.

Back at S.H.I.E.L.D he’d been able to use the vents to find out details far above his security clearance. Now in the Tower it was more useful for finding out when one of his teammates tried to sneak in takeout. Really the only bad thing about vent related recon was when he occasionally heard his teammates make plans he would have liked to be included in but hadn’t been. That and the one time a bird had gotten trapped inside the vent with him; but that was another story.

            He’d been in a vent reading a comic the other day when he’d seen Pepper going from each member of the Avengers to tell them her plans for cheering Fenrir up. Since the majority of the team had had such shitty childhoods, and more family issues than you could shake a stick at, they were all willing to help out. It was a good plan. Anyone could see that Fenrir would need some help getting over all the miserable things that had been piling up lately. Clint was all for joining in but, there was one big problem, Pepper never came to talk to him.

            He kept waiting for her to come talk to him, like she’d done for everyone else, but it never happened. At first he thought he might be paranoid but, after the third time he purposely bumped into her in the hallway in the hopes of starting a conversation, he had to admit that she just wasn’t planning on involving him in this at all.

            Which, **really**? Not fair at all. Sure he hadn’t been too thrilled about Fenrir moving into the Tower when Thor’d first brought him down. But who the hell had been? Ok, sure, he and Fenrir had had that one incident in the library. Clint knew that he’d taken his resentment of Loki way too far, but Fenrir had forgiven him. They’d even gone to the circus together. If that didn’t say that they were on good terms now than nothing did. Things between him and Fenrir, they were fine. So why did everyone still assume that he was going to be such an ass all the time?

            Clint walked down the halls of the Tower until he found Fenrir sitting in the kitchen reading a book. This was good, if he’d been with Bruce or someone then he would have needed to reschedule. As it was everything was about to work out just the way he’d planned it.

            “Come on,” Clint said, going over to Fenrir and grabbing him by the shoulder of his tee shirt.

            “What, what’s going on?” Fenrir yelped, as Clint pulled him out of his chair.

            “You’re coming with me,” Clint said, tugging Fenrir down the hall. “You’ll see.”

            Clint hurried to get Fenrir down the hallway before someone saw the two of them together. It would be just his luck for Steve to appear and ask what was going on. Then there would be questions and then Tony and Thor would probably get involved and it would just be a mess. As it was he just needed to get to the room and they’d be set. Of course getting there would be a lot easier if Fenrir weren’t walking so slowly! Clint couldn’t understand why Fenrir was taking so long to make his way down the hall he finally got him there.

            Clint pushed Fenrir into the room as he let go of his shirt. “Alright, sit,” Clint said, following behind Fenrir.

            Fenrir looked around the room and took in the tables full of snack foods that were in front of him.

            “What?” Fenrir said, looking over to Clint.

           “Sit,” Clint repeated, handing Fenrir a soda as he sat down on the couch. Fenrir hurried to obey and sat at the other end of the couch. Looking at the other man Clint tried to remember if he’d looked so white when he’d been in the kitchen. Fenrir really was unbelievably pale, and Clint decided that he should tell Thor and everyone to get the guy outside more. But all that could wait for later.

            “Okay, so we have Birdemic, Zoolander, Scooby Doo, complete extended edition of Lord of the Rings, Mean Girls, basically whatever you’re in the mood for,” Clint said.

            “I’m confused,” Fenrir said, staring at the stack of dvd’s that Clint had just laid out in front of him.

            “Movie day,” Clint explained. “I figured that, since the last time I tried taking you out of the Tower everyone flipped out that it was probably a better idea if we just hung around here. So movie marathon it is.” Fenrir just stared at him until Clint started speaking again. “I was going to put Star Wars on here but I heard that you and Thor already watched those.”

“You…want to watch movies?” Fenrir asked slowly.

            “And eat junk food. The pizza is on the way but the rest of this is ready to go,” Clint said grabbing the bowl of popcorn from the table and offering it out.

            “You want to watch movies. With me?” Fenrir asked.

            “That’s what I said,” Clint said, feeling a little annoyed. Was it really so hard to believe that he just wanted to hang out? Fenrir stared at Clint for a moment and seemed like he was about to speak but then stopped himself and took the popcorn instead.

            “So which one do you want to watch?” Clint asked again. See, he wanted to say to his teammates, look at what a nice guy I can be. I’m even letting him pick the movie.

            “Whichever you think is best,” Fenrir said, after a pause.

“Lord of the Rings it is,” Clint said, tossing Fellowship in.

It took about twenty minutes into the movie but Fenrir finally started shifting out of the bolt upright sitting position. Clint even caught him laughing a little at Merry and Pippin goofing off at Bilbo’s birthday party. Clint smiled to himself as Fenrir actually began to eat the snacks and get caught up in the movie. They were just about to get to the big summit in Rivendell when Tony showed up.

“I smell popcorn,” Tony said, making a beeline for the coffee table.      

            “Mine,” Clint said, snatching the bowl away from Tony. With the popcorn out of his reach Tony actually took the time to look around the room and noticed all of the food. And the fact that Fenrir was there.

            “What are you two doing?” Tony asked.

            “Movie,” Clint muttered, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

            “Tony, I thought you were just-” Bruce said, stopping in surprise when he saw the group in front of him.

            “Oh no,” Tony said, when he saw what they were watching. “You’re not making him watch this, are you?”

            “It’s a good movie,” Clint said.

            “It has Sean Bean in it,” Tony said, grabbing the remote and turning the movie off. Clint groaned as Tony began digging through the movies for something else to watch. It wasn’t exactly a secret how Tony felt about Sean Bean. A few years back the man had starred in a movie that was basically a rip off of Tony’s experiences in Afghanistan. Tony probably wouldn’t have been too bothered by the portrayal if it hadn’t been for the one scene at the end.

            “Tony, you can’t hate all Sean Bean movies just because-” Clint began before being interrupted.

            “He dies at the end, Clint. He stops the terrorists, flies away, and then he dies,” Tony said.

            “Well, it’s Sean Bean, of course he’s going to die!” Clint said.

            “Fenrir’s only seen about a dozen movies so far. You make him watch the world’s longest series, starring Mr. I can’t live till the end credits, and you’ll make him give up on movies before he even gets to the good stuff,” Tony insisted.

            Personally Clint thought that Lord of the Rings was one of the good ones, but decided that there was no point in arguing it when he heard Tony telling Jarvis to get Steve and Thor.

            “Hey, Cap, you still have that list of movies you needed to watch when you came back to life?” Tony asked, as Steve and Thor entered the room.

            “Yeah, somewhere,” Steve said, taking in the room like everyone else had.

            “Go get it,” Tony said. “Fenrir needs to get caught up.”

            “Actually Fenrir might need a different list,” Bruce said, sitting down in an armchair. “Steve was catching up on about seventy years of pop culture, but he’d seen movies before. But Asgard doesn’t have movies, does it?” The room split as everyone turned to either Thor or Fenrir for the answer.

            “We have performers but this form of entertainment is uniquely Midgardian,” Thor said.

            “That’s what I thought,” Bruce said.

            “So what you’re saying is that Fenrir needs a complete introduction. I can handle that,” Tony said, completely oblivious to Clint who was now pouting as he leaned on the arm of the couch.

            “I still say we can use Cap’s list as a starting point,” Tony said, grabbing a chair across from Bruce’s.

“But you’d need to take out a lot,” Bruce insisted. “I doubt that Fenrir would be very interested in The Godfather or Pulp Fiction.”

            “So we rule out anything over pg-13. That still gives us a lot to work with,” Tony said.

            Steve grabbed the seat between Clint and Fenrir on the couch and Clint had to resist the urge to dump the remainder of the popcorn on him. The debate turned to whether or not Pixar movies should be on the list; with Thor arguing strongly in favor of Finding Nemo. Soon Thor was getting teary at the thought of “a father’s epic journey to reclaim his honor,” but by then Clint was just tuning them all out.

            All of this had been his idea and then everyone had just come in and taken it over. Not fair at all. Tony could have at least waited until the movie was over to start making plans. They hadn’t even gotten the chance to see Legolas shoot anything. Which, let’s face it, is the best part of the movie.           

                                                           &&&&&&&&

           Jane was back in New York. She had arrived early the night before to see Thor. She had missed him so she had come up to visit and stay a few days at the Tower with him. All of this made sense to Fenrir. All of it except for why she was currently walking down the street with him.

            Jane and Thor had spent the evening together, which made sense since Thor hadn’t been able to go to New Mexico in weeks. But then this morning she had come to tell Fenrir that they were going to the planetarium together – and that Thor would not be coming with them.                              

            “I always loved going to the planetarium when I was younger.” Jane said, as the two of them walked down the sidewalk. “During high school I would go there at least once a month. The one here in New York is supposed to be one of the best in the country. I think you’re really going to enjoy it.”

            “What’s going on?” Fenrir asked, shaking his head a little as he tried to make eye contact with Jane.

            “What do you mean? I told you we’re-” Fenrir interrupted Jane.

            “Why is everyone so determined to spend time with me?” Fenrir demanded, stopping abruptly. “Suddenly everyone wants to take me places. Do things together. What is it?”

            “I don’t know what you mean,” Jane said, pulling Fenrir to the side and out of the way of morning commuters.

            “Don’t just tell me I’m imagining it. Pepper and Bruce taking me out might have been a coincidence, but you giving up a day to be with me when you could be spending it with **Thor**?” Fenrir said, the disbelief clear on his face. “And if that didn’t make it clear enough that you all are doing something together then yesterday made it more than obvious.”

            “What happened yesterday?” Jane asked.

            “Clint invited me to watch movies with him,” Fenrir said.

            “And that’s… bad?” Jane asked, feeling increasingly confused.

            “Clint can’t stand me! The only time that we’ve ever spent time together in the past was when he brought me to the circus with him. And he only did that because he couldn’t find anyone else willing to go. Now I’m supposed to believe that he suddenly wants to give up his day to sit with me?” Jane stared at Fenrir as he finished with absolutely no idea what to say.

            “Is it…This has something to do with my father coming back, doesn’t it?” Fenrir asked, slumping against the nearest building. He’d only been angry for a minute but he was already feeling exhausted.

            “Yeah,” Jane admits.

            “Are you all really so worried about what I’ll say to him when he returns?” Fenrir asked.

            “Not really, Loki tends to do what he wants regardless of what anyone else says,” Jane replied.

            “Please just tell me what’s happening,” Fenrir said, quietly.

            “From what Thor told me it was Pepper’s idea. For everyone to work together and try to cheer you up. It isn’t because you’re a problem. It’s because we like you and want to try and help.” Jane said. Fenrir looked at Jane suspiciously but let her continue. “And, not that it makes any difference but, I don’t think Pepper ever talked to Clint.” Jane finished.

            “What do you mean?” Fenrir asked.

            “Thor called me a few days ago to invite me up for a visit and to tell me what was going on. As far as he knew Pepper thought that Clint wouldn’t be interested in helping, so she never went to him,” Jane said.

“She never spoke to him?” Fenrir asked.

            “She might have. But last I heard, she wasn’t going to,” Jane said.

            “The movies were a choice?” Fenrir asked, completely stunned.

            “We’re all doing this by choice. Pepper might have asked people to try and cheer you up, but she isn’t making us do this. We’re doing this because we like you,” Jane said.

            “But why?” Fenrir asked, genuine confusion showing on every inch of his face.

            “Why not?” Jane said, with a shrug. “Now, are we going to go to the planetarium or not?”

            Without waiting for an answer Jane continued on her original course down the street. When she looked back she was rewarded by seeing that Fenrir had come with her.

            The actual show at the planetarium was more or less a success. Fenrir found the experience enjoyable but he couldn’t quite grasp why they were looking at stars inside when they could just as easily stare at the sky. But he did enjoy learning about the Midgardian constellations.

            “Do you go to these places often?” Fenrir asked, as they were leaving.

            “Not so much anymore. I’ve got actual telescopes now and places like this seem a little more limited since, well, everything,” Fenrir smiled at her clear reference to Thor.

            “Well it was very enlightening. I am grateful that you brought me here,” Fenrir said. “Perhaps we could do this again, sometime.”

            “Now that is refreshing,” A voice said, interrupting their conversation. Fenrir and Jane looked up to see an old woman had been watching them. “It’s nice to see that people your age can still have a nice day without all that craziness most people seem to like now.” Just as the woman began to walk away she turned back and said, “You two make a lovely couple.”

            “Oh, we’re not actually a- never mind,” Jane said, leading a blushing Fenrir out of the building.

            By the time they got to the restaurant where they’d decided to have lunch the embarrassment had faded a bit and they were able to make eye contact again. They were seated right away and were about to order when a waiter came up to Jane and said that they were going to have to switch tables. Jane considered arguing the change but the table where he reseated them was on the outdoor patio, and it was a beautiful day, so she decided to just let it be.

            While they ate their lunch Jane asked Fenrir about what had been going on in the Tower, and was stunned when he began detailing the adventures and activities of the Avengers. This was a long way from the guy that Thor had dropped off at her house who could barely say his own name.

            “You look better,” Jane said.

            “Then what?” Fenrir asked.

            “Then the last time I saw you. Then when Thor brought you here. You look happier too,” Jane said. “The makeover’s a nice touch too,” Jane said, with a smile as she put her hand over Fenrir’s.

            Fenrir looked down at the clothes he was wearing and turned bright red.

            “The clothes were mostly chosen for me,” Fenrir said quietly. “They’re much different from what I’m used to but I hope that I’m presentable.” Fenrir stopped talking when he saw that an old man and his wife had stopped alongside their table as they were leaving the restaurant.

            “Remember when we were like that?” The man said to his wife, before aiming a wink at Jane and Fenrir. “Young love.” He said, happily as he left.

            Jane and Fenrir sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before they let themselves laugh at the repeated confusion. Not long after they began their meal it became obvious that Fenrir couldn’t stand the taste of the shrimp he’d ordered and they began preparing to leave.

            “I hope that you aren’t leaving before you take a look at our dessert menu,” Their waiter said, hurrying over when he saw them getting up.

            “I guess we could stay a little longer,” Jane said, with a smile when she was actually able to hear Fenrir’s stomach growl at the word dessert.

            “I have to recommend our double chocolate kiss cake. Couples like you always love it,” He said, pointing to the picture of the dessert in the menu.

            Just as Jane was about to correct the waiter, something slammed down next to their table and shook the ground.

            “She is not Fenrir’s girlfriend she is mine! Fenrir is far too young for any such relationship!” Thor yelled, sending the waiter running inside. Fenrir sat in his chair, stunned by Thor’s sudden appearance, but Jane was much less impressed.

            “Where did you come from? Wait, is this why we were moved outside?” Jane demanded, as realization hit her.

            “I could not see you inside,” Thor said.

            “Have you just been following us all day?!” Jane demanded.

            “Perhaps,” Thor said.

                                               &&&&&&&&

            “What are you making again?” Steve asked Bruce.

            “Butternut squash risotto,” Bruce said, grabbing another knife. “I’ve never made it before so you don’t have to eat it if you’re not interested.”

            “No, I’ll eat it,” Steve assured him. “I’ll eat it just to make Tony try it.”

            “Tony won’t try it,” Bruce insisted. Steve shrugged and went back to the sketch he’d been working on. He hadn’t been drawing as much as he’d used to but when he’d been running in the park that morning he’d seen a woman trying to take her cat for a walk and he’d felt compelled to try and recreate it.

            “If you wanted to come along then why didn’t you just say that this morning?” An angry Jane said as she stormed into the kitchen, followed shortly after by Thor and Fenrir.

“I thought that you and Fenrir would enjoy the time together. I wanted for you to know each other better,” Thor said. “You are the two most important people in my world and I wanted you to have a chance to get to know one another without me interfering.”

“Then why didn’t you just stay at home?” Jane asked.

            “I meant to, but I became concerned,” Thor said.

            “About what?” Jane replied.

            “What if there had been an attack while you two had been in the city? Or what if there had been an incident at the planetarium? Or what if someone accidentally poisoned your food at the restaurant.” Thor continued to list all of the things that could have possibly gone wrong while Jane and Fenrir were out of the Tower. Bruce paused in his cooking to watch the battle and saw, out of the corner of his eye that Steve had switched to a new page in his sketchbook.

            “Thor, none of that happened,” Jane said.

            “But it could have. I only wanted to continue to protect you both,” Thor insisted.

            “Wait, did you just say- Have you done this before?” Jane asked.

“I do not know what you mean,” Thor said, trying to avoid eye contact with Jane.

            “Have you followed Fenrir when he’d been out before?” Before Thor could think of an answer Jane jumped in again. “Have you ever done that when I’ve been here?” Thor pointedly ignored the question and stared at his feet. “Thor, have you ever followed me?”

            “This city can be dangerous,” Thor said. Fenrir let out a small snort of laughter at Thor’s defense.

            “Oh my God. No. No, Thor, that is not okay,” Jane said.

            Bruce fought against his desire to burst out laughing and reached out to take his food off of the stove. He wanted to make sure that he was able to give this his full attention. Glancing over at Steve he saw that his friend was also fighting off laughs. Taking a few steps over to the table Bruce was able to see over Steve’s shoulder at what he was drawing. At first glance it looked like the scene in front of them. Thor standing in front of Fenrir and Jane. When he looked more closely he realized that what he’d thought was extra shading on Thor was actually mounds of hair. That combined with the apron that Steve was quickly adding made the subject abundantly clear.

            “Mother bear?” Bruce whispered to Steve. Steve just smiled as he continued his sketch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I really just write an entire chapter with no suffering? This feels wrong. I need to add more angst before I start going through withdraw. What do I do? What do I do? Oh... that's an idea. (Laughs maniacally)   
> Read, review, and I'll see you next chapter.


	25. Chapter 24

 

                                              Chapter 24

            Thor hadn’t meant to upset Jane. All he’d wanted was to look out for her and Fenrir. Lately all of the dangers of this world had seemed more threatening than ever and not everyone had the power of thunder to aid them. It wasn’t as if he was the only one to have concerns. Before leaving Asgard Frigga had come to Thor and made a point of reminding him that he would be Fenrir’s caretaker now. Protecting Fenrir was his duty and, as for Jane, what self-respecting warrior wouldn’t look after the safety of the woman he loved.

            Even so, his actions had clearly made Jane unhappy and, for that, he was sorry. In his attempts to make amends, Thor had been making an effort to allow Fenrir and Jane time to get to know each other. This time excluding his presence completely. Jane had chosen to use the time to continue Fenrir’s quest to embrace Midgardian culture. Thor had been thrilled when Fenrir told him about how they’d been spending their time together. And even though they watched several movies together that Thor had been hoping to see himself, Thor resisted the urge to go and join them. Despite such minor inconveniences, the plan seemed to have worked. Thor was pleased to see that the friendship between Jane and Fenrir seemed much stronger. He was also relived by the fact that they had decided to forgive him for overstepping.

            Feeling reassured that he had mended any damage done to his relationships, Thor decided that he need no longer postpone his own plans for helping Fenrir to overcome his gloom. He waited until the fifth day of her visit, when he knew that Jane would be at a university sharing the results of her research with other scholars. Unfortunately he had forgotten that this was also the day that Stark had arranged for photographers to come and capture them all. Luckily the diversion was a brief one, and he was able to finish quickly enough.

            Thor had barely been able to wait for Fenrir to get dressed before he was pulling him down the stairs and out the building. All the while telling him about the grand day that they had in store for him. The first thing he wanted to do was make sure that Fenrir knew how to get around.

            “The tunnels are the best way to get around the city,” Thor said, leading Fenrir down a flight of stairs. “Unless of course you are willing to reconsider flying.” Thor looked hopefully over to Fenrir. Fenrir seemed to be making a point of not looking back at Thor as he continued down the flight of stairs. Once they reached the platform Thor continued his explanation.

            “The approaching machine is called a subway,” Thor said, speaking loudly over the approaching train. “It travels through the tunnels and can take you anywhere in the city.” They waited for the train to stop and then stepped on. “According to Stark, the subways are all owned and operated by the makers of large sandwiches.”

            “Transportation and sandwiches?” Fenrir asked, trying to find a link between the two things.

            “Yes. Midgardians are truly a versatile race,” Thor said with a smile. They continued to stand in silence until they arrived at their destination, at which point Thor grabbed Fenrir by the arm and pulled him along.

            Thor hurried Fenrir along to a large brown building. It was clear that Fenrir was unsure about where Thor was taking him, especially when he saw that they were heading to the center of a large crowd, but like always he followed Thor’s lead. Thor quickly led Fenrir to a bench, once again surrounded by people, and indicated for him to sit down. Almost as soon as they were sitting a loud blaring sound came from behind them and groups of tall men came running out from all directions.

            “Thor, what is this?” Fenrir asked, nervously sliding closer to his uncle.

            “It’s a competition,” Thor said with a smile. “I found this place some time back. You have to understand that on Midgard people are limited in their options of questing. So they created these competitions as a way for the most skilled among them to distinguish themselves.”

            “So what are they doing?” Fenrir asked, looking down as the men began circling around one another and tossing something back and forth.

            “They separate into two teams, and then they fight to get the orange ball through those nets at either end of the room,” Thor explained. Just then one of the men managed to send the ball through the net and the crowd around them began cheering. “It’s quite childish really.” Thor whispered as the cheering died down. “But you have to remember how fragile the Midgardian body is.”

            About an hour and a half later the competition had ended and they were back on the train.

            “It was enjoyable, but I’m still not sure I entirely understand the point,” Fenrir said, as he watched yet another woman pretend to lose her balance and bump into Thor.

            “I told you, the point is to get the ball through the net, and the team that does this the most is victorious,” Thor said.

            “But why are they putting the ball in the net at all?” Fenrir asked.

            “Because that is how they achieve victory,” Thor replied simply.

            “Oh,” Fenrir said, still feeling confused. “Are we heading back to the Tower now?” Fenrir asked, before Thor could try and explain it to him again.

            “Not yet, there is still one more place I would like to show you before we return home,” Thor said. It was another three stops before they got off of the train and it was clear to Fenrir immediately that this was going to be very different than the competition he had just witnessed.

            “Come,” Thor said, wrapping his arm around Fenrir. The entrance was marked by large metal gates and Fenrir couldn’t help but stare as Thor led him through. Fenrir was still trying to figure out where Thor had taken him when he heard a familiar trumpeting behind him.

            “Elephants?” Fenrir said in shock, as he walked over to an enclosure. Sure enough, behind a long fence, stood four elephants.

            “How do you know of elephants?” Thor asked, walking up behind them.

            “They were at the circus,” Fenrir explained. “What are they doing here?”

            “It’s called a zoo. There are animals here from all over Midgard,” Thor explained.

            “War trophies?” Fenrir asked, still unable to look away from the elephants.

            “I thought the same the first time I was here, but no. The owners of the zoo merely sent away for the animals,” Thor said.

            “Why are they here then?” Fenrir asked, finally looking away from the animals.

            “To be admired, I suppose. Travel on Midgard is difficult. Some of these animals are on the other side of the planet and could never be seen without places like these,” Thor said.

            “That’s nice,” Fenrir said with a small smile. “It’s very generous of the owner to allow people to come and see all of the animals. Do you think that we could thank him before we leave?”

            “I believe that this place is actually owned by the leaders of New York, but I can speak to Pepper about relaying your thanks,” Thor said, grabbing Fenrir by the wrist. “There are an entire realms worth of creatures here. I won’t have you spend our whole day staring at just one.”

            With that Thor was pulling Fenrir across the park. Thor was pleased to see that, despite his initial confusion, Fenrir was fascinated with the different animals. The polar bears and penguins being especially entertaining. Soon they had seen over half of the park and were making their way through, what the signs called, the Safari Zone.

            “The Sumatran Tiger,” Fenrir read off of a plaque in front of him. “One of the most deadly predators in the world. It is a hunter which stalks its prey before bringing it down.” Fenrir stopped in his reading and looked between the bars at the animal in front of them. The tiger was large and stretched out beneath a tree a few feet from the walls of the enclosure.

            “She seems… bored,” Fenrir said.

            “That she does,” Thor agreed, as the tiger yawned. “I’m sure she’s just resting. Come, let’s go and see more.”

            “It’s not right,” Fenrir said, kneeling down in front of the bars and looking at the tiger. “She’s supposed to hunt. It’s her nature. She should be a deadly predator and instead she’s just sitting there with people looking at her all day.”

            “Don’t worry Fenris, I’ve been assured that the animals here are very well taken care of,” Thor said.

            “Maybe,” Fenrir said, quietly. “But she’d probably prefer to hunt down her food to someone giving it to her.”

            Thor frowned at the turn the conversation had taken. This trip had been meant to make Fenrir happy, and now it seemed to be making him act more somber than he’d been in days. Although, looking at the creature before him it wasn’t hard to see Fenrir’s point. Surely it was a shame to pen such a deadly animal.

            “Perhaps she would enjoy an opportunity to embrace her instincts,” Thor said, as an idea began to form.

            “What do you mean by that?” Fenrir asked, sparing Thor a glance.

“How would you like to go on a hunt?” Thor asked.

“Like…Do you mean like the ones that you and my father would take me on? When I was little?” Fenrir asked. Thor smiled happily. This was something that he could truly get excited about. Sure competitions and trips out were nice. He would certainly do anything that would help Fenrir adjust to his new home. But a hunt was truly something to enjoy. Especially with such a formidable target.

            “I’ll go talk to the animal’s keepers and see if I can arrange something,” Thor said. Leaving Fenrir to watch the tiger and wait. He was quickly able to find an employee of the park and explained his request. The man initially laughed, which Thor thought was very rude, and then told him that hunting the animals was not allowed. Thor tried explaining that he thought that the animal would benefit from some sport, and them the man seemed to become very anxious. He annoyed Thor again when he told him to wait while he called his supervisor.

            Thor went back to join Fenrir at the tiger cage while they waited for an answer to their request. Suddenly their silence was interrupted by Thor’s cell phone.

            “Hello,” Thor said, answering his phone. “Pepper! It is good to hear from you. I thought you were spending the rest of this week in California.” Fenrir watched as Thor took his call.

            “Yes, we are at the zoo. How did you know that?” Thor said. Fenrir continued to watch, and saw Thor’s face fall as he listened to what pepper had to say.

            “I do not see how our request was so unreasonable,” Thor said, before stopping to listen again. “Alright, I understand.” Thor hung up his phone and turned sadly to Fenrir.

            “It seems we are being asked to leave the zoo,” Thor said, holding out a hand to Fenrir to help him up. Fenrir took one last look at the tiger before letting Thor lead him out of the park.

            Thor couldn’t help his foul mood on their trip home. This day had been meant to brighten Fenrir’s outlook and not only had the park seemed to bring him sadness but then they had had to cut their day short for no reason at all. Thor hated to admit it but, even after three years on Midgard, he still wondered if he would ever be able to understand the people here.

                                                &&&&&&&&

            They were jerks. His teammates were jerks and that’s all there was to it. First they hadn’t included him in their little group plan to make Fenrir happy. That would have been bad enough. But then when he’d actually tried to be a nice guy, what do they do, they _stole his turn_. They hadn’t even let him get through one movie before everyone had shown up and taken over. Well Clint had learned his lesson. This time he was getting out of the Tower. That’s right, he was kidnapping Fenrir! Again. Thor was off flying Jane around the city, or whatever it was they did on their dates. And judging by the explosion he’d heard in the labs earlier, both Bruce and Tony were busy. He just needed to make sure he avoided interception by Steve on the way out of the building and he was set. It was now or never.

            “Fenrir,” Clint said, when he found him in the library. “Grab shoes. Let’s go.” Fenrir stared questioningly at Clint for a minute before he silently got up to get his shoes.

            Clint was glad to see that Fenrir was willing to just go along with things since it would save them a lot of time and lower their risk of being spotted on their way out. Fenrir did hesitate a little when he realized that they were actually going to be leaving the building, but still kept following so that made things easier. Clint was actually surprised that they were able to get inside a cab before Fenrir finally started asking questions.

“Where are we going?” Fenrir asked, looking out the window and watching the Tower disappear.

“Carnival,” Clint said.

            “A carnival? Like the… kind with rides and games?” Fenrir asked.

          “You have those on Asgard?” Clint asked, surprised. This was not what Clint wanted to hear. He’d thought that this was going to be a novelty.    

            “No, we don’t have them on Asgard. But Jane has been showing me movies,” Fenrir explained. “The carnival seems to be a popular activity for, um, for people in movies.”

            “Well there’s a reason for that,” Clint said. Looking over at Fenrir he thought that it was a little strange that the other man suddenly seemed even more nervous than when they’d left the Tower. But then, most of the things that Fenrir did were pretty strange so he decided to ignore it.

            The cab ride ended up taking almost a half hour longer than Clint had thought it would so it was already late afternoon by the time they even got to the fair grounds. As soon as they got out Clint began to worry that he might have made a mistake. The crowd at the fair was huge and Fenrir didn’t seem all that eager to join in. Looking around to take in all of the flashing lights and noises, Clint made his decision.

            They were already here. If it was a problem then they could go back. Besides, Fenrir needed to get used to people eventually. He couldn’t spend his entire, ridiculously long, life stuck in the Tower. Clint reached out and took a hold of Fenrir’s hand. Leading him through the stalls he made a beeline for the first thing that he thought might calm Fenrir down.

            “Here,” Clint said, handing Fenrir the cone as he paid the vendor.

            “Cotton candy?” Fenrir said, taking the treat.

            “What’s wrong? I know you liked the one you had at the circus,” Clint said.

            “No I-I did. I just thought,” Fenrir looked up at Clint and then looked back at the cotton candy. “This is nice. Thank you.”

            That was weird. Clint thought as he tried to figure out the look Fenrir had just given him. Was Clint being nice still such a shock? He decided that he was just going to have to work even harder to make this day count.

            “Well, eat that fast, we have a lot to do,” Clint said, beginning to scout out the rides. He decided to hit some of the easier rides first. Always a classic way to start the fair, and the bumper cars were a surprising success. Fenrir had even stopped giving Clint those weird looks, which had to mean he was enjoying himself.

            They continued making their way through the rides when Fenrir saw the carousel. There was no line so Clint couldn’t think of a reason not to so they headed for the gate. As soon as he saw Fenrir jump onto a horse Clint knew he was in trouble and fought the urge to laugh. Naturally Fenrir noticed.

“What?” Fenrir asks.

“Nothing,” Clint said, immediately realizing that Fenrir wasn’t going to let him get away without answering. “I was just wondering if your dad’s love of horses runs in the family?” Fenrir’s face turned bright red, which was actually a nice change considering how pale he usually was.

            “That story isn’t true you know,” Fenrir said.

“Hey, I don’t judge,” Clint said, jumping onto the horse next to Fenrir. “What happens in the stables stays in the stables.” Fenrir just stared at him and, for a moment Clint worried he’d pushed the joke too far, but then Fenrir seemed to roll his eyes. So Clint figured he was off the hook.

            Once off Clint stopped to buy Fenrir a soft pretzel before heading to his favorite part of any fair. The games. Clint stopped and bought a wheel of tickets and then they were off. Fenrir tried a few and actually didn’t do too bad; for someone who was playing honestly. As for him, he won every one he played. Just like always.

            “There’s a trick to it, isn’t there?” Fenrir asked, after Clint was handed his fifth prize stuffed animal.

            “I’m just talented,” Clint insisted.

            “No,” Fenrir said, looking back at the game Clint had just won. “They did something. No one should be able to beat these games, but you did.”

            “Well, yeah, they’re rigged so they don’t have to give out as many prizes,” Clint explained, making a beeline for the milk bottle tent.

            “So how do you beat them?” Fenrir asked again.

            “Like I said, I’m talented,” Fenrir gave him a suspicious look. “That and I used to help rig games just like these. I know all the tricks.”

            “How do you beat this one?” Fenrir asked, when they reached the next game. “You’re supposed to knock those bottles down, but they’ve clearly been secured.”

            Clint handed over his tickets and took a baseball from the man behind the counter. “Watch and learn,” He said taking aim at the bottles.

            An armful of prizes later and they had successfully hit every game booth that the fair had to offer. After Fenrir asked, what exactly Clint was going to do with all of them, Clint decided that it was time to reveal the next part of his plan for the day. He led Fenrir to the back of the fair and found the trailer he was looking for. He handed off all of the prizes that he had won to the man at the door and motioned for Fenrir to follow him inside.

            “Pick one,” Clint said, waving his hand at the pile or huge stuffed animals. Fenrir gave him a confused look so Clint decided to explain. “You can trade a bunch of little prizes in for a big one.”

            “Yes, I saw the sign at the door,” Fenrir said, still staring at him.

            “So what’s the problem?” Clint asked.

            “I didn’t win anything,” Fenrir said.

            “Yeah, I’m giving you mine,” Clint said. There was the look again! Clint couldn’t figure out what had brought it on this time. Were you not supposed to share prizes on Asgard?

            “Listen,” Clint said, deciding to try a different tactic. “Winning the prizes is the fun part. I already did that. I don’t really need another giant teddy bear. So pick one you like and I’ll meet you outside.”

            Clint hurried to step out the door before Fenrir could argue. He had a feeling if he wasn’t there then Fenrir would take a prize rather than risk being rude. Then again, Clint had to admit that, he didn’t have any clue what was going on with Fenrir. For a little while they’d actually seemed to be having fun, and now they were right back to where they’d been when they’d gotten here. Clint didn’t have much more time to try and figure Fenrir out since Fenrir emerged from the trailer soon after.

            “You picked a horse?” Clint asked, when he saw the stuffed animal Fenrir was carrying.

            “I am my father’s son after all,” Fenrir said, with a smirk. Clint was too impressed by the fact that Fenrir had just made a joke to respond, and just led him away from the trailer. A part of him did wonder if Thor would find the whole thing as amusing as he did, but there was time to worry about how badly Thor would react later. For now, he had something more important to think about. And that thing was dinner.

            “I’m going to need you and the horse to stay here and guard this spot,” Clint said, when he managed to find an open picnic table.

            “What am I guarding it from?” Fenrir said, looking around.

            “The tables are going to be in high demand this close to dinner. If we don’t want to eat sitting in the grass one of us needs to stay here and make sure no one else claims it,” Clint said.

            “If it’s so close to dinner shouldn’t we be heading back? I think Thor was planning for me to eat with Jane and him,” Fenrir said.

            “Did he tell you that?” Clint asked.

            “Well, no, but-” Fenrir said.

            “So you blow him off and eat here. Food’ll be better anyway,” Clint said, heading off to get in line.

            It took five trays, and two guys to help carry them, to get all his food back to the table but it was definitely worth it when he saw the look of awe on Fenrir’s face. Or maybe it was just a look of hunger, but the point was that it was a good look.

            “That is a lot of food,” Fenrir said, staring transfixed at a plate of tacos.

            “Yes it is. I tried to get some of everything,” Clint replied.

            “Isn’t that expensive?” Fenrir asked, seemingly forcing himself to look away from the table.

“Don’t worry, Tony agreed to treat for this,” Clint insisted. Which was, okay, maybe not entirely true. What Tony had actually done was leave a credit card abandoned on the gym floor. But Clint took the fact that Tony hadn’t canceled the card in the year he’d been using it to mean that it was meant as a gift.

            “Besides, carnival food is one of the greatest things that this planet has to offer. I’d be insulting the planet if I didn’t make sure that you try it all,” Clint said, grabbing a hot dog and offering it over. Fenrir seemed to hesitate, but then a breeze sent the smell of all the food straight at him and all arguments were worthless.

            Naturally, since Clint is a genius and fair food is delicious, Fenrir loved all of the greasy foods that the carnival had to throw at them. Between the two of them they were able to clear the entire table. Clint even had to go back for seconds on the deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And Clint approved of anyone who would go back for seconds on the deep fried pb&j.

            Clint had considered not going for dessert, but then Fenrir admitted that Thor wasn’t buying him takeout. Apparently all of the Earth foods he’s been giving him were things that would be somewhat familiar. Knowing that, Clint really didn’t have any choice but to grab some deep fried snickers bars and funnel cakes.

            Once they had eaten as much grease and oil as their bodies could tolerate, it was time to get moving again. Fenrir seemed to be on the verge of a food coma so Clint knew that he had to get him moving quick or they were going to be done. So, grabbing Fenrir by the back of his shirt to get him moving, Clint led them away from the picnic tables and back over to the rides.

            “So I was thinking that you should try at least one rollercoaster before we leave,” Clint said. “I know that you can hear it creak when it goes around turns, but that’s really part of the experience.” Clint looked over to see what Fenrir thought of the idea. At least Fenrir didn’t look like he was going to fall asleep anymore. Admittedly he now looked like he was going to puke up everything he’d just eaten, but at least he was awake.

            “Or we could digest and do something else first,” Clint offered. Fenrir just nodded his agreement and looked relieved.

Clint slung an arm around Fenrir’s shoulders and began walking him down the aisles. And just like that Fenrir closed off again. What was going on? Clint couldn’t figure out what it was he had done wrong this time but clearly Fenrir was uncomfortable. He was just going to have to be more obviously friendly. Try and make him believe that this trip wasn’t going to end with Clint throwing him off of the Ferris wheel. Although, Ferris wheel wasn’t such a bad thought.

            Clint led Fenrir the rest of the way over to the ride and they waited in line. Fenrir was looking even worse than he had a few moments earlier and Clint was actually starting to get nervous. Could some of the food have actually made Fenrir sick? Thor had never gotten sick and he’d eaten pretty much everything anyone ever threw at him.

            Clint tried to get Fenrir to tell him what was wrong, but every time he tried asking a question all he got were nods. Finally they made their way to the front of the line and began the slow climb to the top. Fenrir was grabbing the safety bar like he thought someone was going to flip their seat upside down.

            “You sure you’re feeling alright,” Clint asked again.

            “I… I don’t really like being up high,” Fenrir admitted, gripping the safety bar even tighter.

“Well why didn’t you tell me that before?” Clint asked. No wonder Fenrir looked like he was about to pass out. He was afraid of heights.

“It’s not a long ride,” Clint insisted, trying to help Fenrir calm down. “We’ll be off before you know it.”

“I, I’m fine,” Fenrir said, staring straight ahead.

Putting an arm around Fenrir, Clint smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it’s completely safe. I wouldn’t let you fall.” This didn’t seem to do anything to help the situation. Fenrir stared at Clint for so long that Clint was pretty sure he’d somehow managed to make things worse.

            As they were finally approaching the top Clint had to admit that the ride had been a big mistake. Fenrir looked terrible and was probably going to be sick as soon as they hit the ground. Clint decided that he should probably cut his losses and take Fenrir back home as soon as they got off the ride. Clint turned to tell Fenrir the plan for heading out and saw that Fenrir was staring at him again.

            “What’s up?” Clint asked.

            “Alright,” Fenrir said, to himself. Then, before Clint could figure out what he was talking about, Fenrir leaned over and kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that seems like a good place to end things. I am dying to know what you all think of what is going on. Review and I will see you next time.


	26. chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long response time. I was all ready for this chapter and then when I went to update my laptop wouldn't turn on. This led to the long and wonderful saga of me trying to get it fixed only to be told that it was beyond hope. One new laptop later and here we are. I'll give you all chapter 26 this week to make up for it.

 

            Fenrir had just kissed him. Clint was being kissed by Fenrir. Fenrir was kissing… **What?**! As soon as Clint’s brain was able to catch up with what was happening he pulled away.

            “I’m sorry,” Fenrir said, pushing himself into the far side of the ride. “Was I supposed to- did you want to do that?”

            “I- what?” Clint said, having trouble even forcing that out. His brain was still having trouble functioning. “Did you just kiss me?” Clint asked, hoping that too much junk food had just resulted in a very bizarre hallucination.

            “I thought you wanted to-,” Fenrir stopped himself abruptly. “I think I made a mistake. I’m sorry,” Fenrir said quickly, dropping his eyes down to his shoes.

            “You thought I wanted to what? To make out on the Ferris Wheel?” Clint asked. This made no sense. How had made the jump from them hanging out at the carnival to kissing. Of all the bizarre things that Fenrir had been doing this had to be the worst. Unless Fenrir had- no, Clint thought as a very uncomfortable idea occurred to him. There was no way.

            “Did you think this was a date?” Clint asked, looking Fenrir over for a response.

            “Not…at first,” Fenrir said, briefly looking over at Clint and back. “I was sure that I was misunderstanding something. But then we were at the carnival, and you did everything that the people in the movies did on their date so I just...” Fenrir trailed off.

            Clint looked back on what they’d been doing that day and tried to figure out what they’d done that could possibly seem date-like. They’d just been hanging out at the carnival like everyone else. So maybe winning a giant prize for Fenrir was a little dateish. But the rest of it was totally just two guys at the carnival. Yeah, okay, he bought Fenrir dinner. It wasn’t like Fenrir had any money of his own. And as for the Ferris wheel, it was just a ride. Lots of people went on the rides! It wasn’t like he’d brought Fenrir flowers.

            “Okay, so you thought that this was a date,” Clint said, still trying to wrap his mind around the subject. “So you just decided that ‘it’s a date, better kiss him’?”

            Fenrir shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking more uncomfortable by the minute.

“The top of the Ferris wheel seems to be the traditional place for… such acts,” Fenrir said.

“Jane’s been showing you romcoms hasn’t she?” Clint asked, looking over the edge of his seat and wondering if he could manage a jump from this high. He’d probably break a leg, but at least he’d get out of here.

“Yes she has,” Fenrir said, and judging by the look on his face, Clint had the feeling that Fenrir was considering the same out that he was. Even with the fear of heights.

“Carnivals aren’t always for dates. They can just be a place to go for fun. Hanging out. No other motives,” Clint said, glancing over the edge again and seriously considering the jump.

“I’m coming to understand that, yes,” Fenrir said.

Finally they seemed to be heading back down the ride. Clint honestly couldn’t remember it taking this long in the past. Apparently awkwardness could slow down time. At least they were going to be off the ride soon. Then they could head back to the Tower and just forget everything that happened. And he was most definitely going to be talking to Jane about what movies she had been showing.

Then again, talking to Jane would probably lead to Thor finding out that he and Fenrir kissed. That would probably end up with Clint being slammed into a wall again. Especially if Thor thought that…Oh boy, Clint thought. The awkwardness might not be over yet.

“Um, Fenrir,” Clint said, shifting in his seat at the knowledge there was no good answer for what he was about to ask. “Did you want this to be a date?”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Fenrir said, suddenly looking very interested in the stuffed horse.

“You thought that this was a date and then you kissed me, but did you actually want to kiss me?” Clint asked, genuinely wanting to know the answer.

“I did, I mean, I didn’t not want,” Fenrir glanced over at Clint and then away again. “No, not… not really.” Fenrir admitted.

            “Then why did you do it?” Clint asked.

“I told you, I thought that it was a date,” Fenrir repeated.

“So what? Even people who are on dates don’t have to do anything if they don’t actually like the other person,” Clint said, feeling especially relieved when he saw that they were almost at the bottom of the ride.

“I don’t dislike you,” Fenrir said. “You were being nice. You’ve been nice and I was enjoying myself. If this had been something that you had wanted then I didn’t really have any objection to it.”

            “Except for the small fact that you don’t want to,” Clint replied.

             “Wanting is… not the point,” Fenrir said in a whisper.

            “Then what the hell is?” Clint asked. “Look, I’m not the guy to talk about this with. You should talk to Thor or Bruce or, I don’t know, talk to Pepper about it. But trust me when I say that if both people involved don’t _want_ something to happen, then it’s not a good idea.”

            “Yes,” Fenrir said, sounding exhausted and sad. “And what if I don’t want someone but they want me?”

            “Then you tell them to fuck off,” Clint said.

            “And if that doesn’t work?” Fenrir asked.

            “Then you go tell Thor, or anyone else in the Tower, and we’ll go castrate him for you,” Clint said with a smile.

            That got a laugh at least. It wasn’t much of a laugh, but Clint would take what he could get. God this day had taken a weird turn. It was definitely time to head home.

            Finally their car was at the bottom of the ride and they were able to jump off. “You ready to get out of here?” Clint asked.

            Fenrir nodded his head and they began making their way out. Once again the awkward silence was back. Clint tried to comfort himself with the thought that, while Fenrir might have misread some signals, at least he wasn’t actually harboring a crush for him. That, honestly, Clint had no idea how he would have dealt with that one. Although in a way it almost made it worse. Since he couldn’t stop wondering how far Fenrir would have let things go if Clint actually had meant this as a date. Despite the fact that Fenrir openly admitted that he wasn’t really interested. Uggh, best not to go there.

            “Do I still get to keep the horse?” Fenrir asked, jerking Clint out of his thoughts.

            “What?” Clint said.

            “The… the horse, do I,” Fenrir said, lifting the stuffed animal slightly.

            “Oh, yeah, him. Yeah, that’s yours. It was a gift,” Clint said, as they finally reached the curb.

            “Thank you,” Fenrir said.

            “It’s definitely yours but do you think you could you do me a favor?” Clint asked, reaching out his arm to hail a cab.

            “I suppose,” Fenrir said.

            “Do you think that when you tell Thor what we did today, you could leave out the last bit with the Ferris Wheel?” Clint looked over at Fenrir who seemed to be thinking over the request.

            “It’s probably for the best that he not know,” Fenrir agreed. “He might react badly.”

            Yep, Clint thought, as a cab pulled to a stop in front of them. If Thor ever found out then he was definitely going to end up with another concussion.

           

                                                &&&&&&&&

           

            It was time to break out the big guns. It was Tony’s turn to cheer Fenrir up and his day was going to top everyone else’s. Although, to be fair, he should be getting some credit for most of the things that Fenrir had already done. Considering that, according to the credit card statements Pepper had shown him, he’d apparently been paying for everything else. It didn’t surprise him that Clint had stolen one of his credit cards, circus folk and all. But Bruce had been a surprise. And he still didn’t know who was charging mass amounts of Girl Scout Cookies to his account, but that didn’t really matter.

            What mattered was the plan. Unlike Clint, Tony had taken the time to let Thor know that he was going to be borrowing Fenrir for the day. This gave the added bonus that he wouldn’t get home and have a hammer thrown at him when he tried to reenter the Tower; like Clint had.

            Tony got down to the lobby and there was the loyal pooch waiting just where he/Pepper had told him to be. Quick asked him if he was ready to go and then, barely waiting for him to finish his obvious answer, took him outside to meet Happy.

            “First you call me in the middle of the night to drive across the country and pick up your trading cards. Now you tell me that you need me to take a day off and I get here and find out that you want me to chauffeur you around,” Happy said, glaring at Tony. “I’m the head of Stark security now, Tony. I can’t take a day off every time you need a ride to the airport.”

            “This was important,” Tony insisted, holding up his hands.  “I need someone I can trust on this.”

            “To drive you to the airport?” Happy demanded. Which, really, Happy?

            “Important drive, important destination,” Tony said. “I can’t just have anyone knowing where I’m going today.”

            Happy’s expression turned serious and he leaned in to Tony. “This Avengers business?”

            “It’s part of a project we’re all working on,” Tony said. “Now come here.” Tony led Happy over to where Fenrir was standing on the steps. “Happy, I want you to meet Fenrir.”

            Happy looked Fenrir up and down for a minute before offering out his hand. “I guess this means that Pepper finally won the ‘no more female PA’s’ argument.”

            Fenrir laughed as he shook Happy’s hand. Which, not okay. He was not going to have these two ganging up on him.

            “Fenrir’s not my assistant, he’s a guest. He’s a friend of Thor’s from Asgard,” Tony said. That got a look from Fenrir. Not that Tony regretted the choice. There was no way he was going to bring up the Loki connection to Happy until he’d been around Fenrir for a while. Maybe after he’d had a drink. Tony hadn’t really thought much about the timing but he’d get to it.

            “I thought you looked familiar,” Happy said. Damn, Tony thought, looks like he’d be explaining a little sooner than he’d planned. While Tony was still trying to figure out how to explain the situation, and Fenrir was doing his best deer in the headlights impression, Happy began talking again.

            “You’re the guy they keep putting in the tabloids,” Happy declared with a smile. Tony and Fenrir both let out a breath. “I’ve been trying to figure out what’s been going on with you. You would not believe some of the theories that are going around on line.”

            “And I’m sure we’d love to hear about those, in the car,” Tony said, hurrying down the steps.

            “Still don’t see why you need me for this,” Happy muttered as he went to open the door for them both. This was followed, what seemed like seconds later, with Happy opening the door for them at the airport.  “Still don’t see why you couldn’t have gotten a cab.”

            “Have you been talking about that the whole drive?” Tony asked. “How about you bemoan your fate on the jet where we can at least have drinks?”

            “You want me to fly the jet now?” Happy asked.

            “Please, I have a guy for that,” Tony said, motioning for Fenrir to follow him and making his way onto the jet.

            “Tony, I work. I can’t just drop everything and go on a trip with you. I have a lot to do. You should know that, seeing as I’m protecting **your** company.” Happy said. Which Tony knew was all just nonsense. Obviously Happy wanted to come along. He was following them into the jet wasn’t he?

            “I’m your boss. Perks of being the boss is saying were to allocate resources. And this jet needs more security,” Tony said, sitting down in what had to be one of the most comfortable chairs ever. He’d had to have everything in the jet replaced after a little run in the last year with a few remnants of A.I.M. but maybe it was for the best. The old chairs didn’t make him feel like he was floating.

            “I’ll give you three extra paid vacation days to make up for it,” Tony added. Happy shook his head and chose his seat. Which Tony had known he would; Happy always agreed with him eventually. More or less.

            “So where are we going?” Happy asked, as the flight crew began preparing for takeoff.

            “Not exactly sure. Somewhere in Europe I think,” Tony said, lounging back as a flight attendant handed him his pre-takeoff drink.

            “You don’t know where we’re going?” Happy demanded.

            “Flight crew knows. They had it on file. I’ve been there before. You remember, it was that spa that Pepper sent me to,” Tony said, noticing that Fenrir was still up and moving around. “You’re going to need to sit down before we take off.”

            “Tony, that spa was in Spain,” Happy said.

            “I knew it was somewhere in Europe,” Tony said.

            “We’re about to fly aren’t we?” Fenrir said, reaching out for the chair next to Tony’s and pulling himself into it.

            “Can’t get there by car,” Tony said, listening to the sounds of the plane beginning to take off. “Don’t worry, my jet is much faster than average. We’ll be there in half the time it normally takes.”

            “You know that they have spas in New York, right?” Happy asked.

            Tony just rolled his eyes at the questions. Yeah there probably were spas in New York, but they weren’t this spa. This was the spa that Pepper had sent him to when he’d been getting over his palladium poisoning. She’d sent him there again after he’d flown a missile into space. Then one more time after he’d finally gotten his shrapnel removed. The point was that he’d been there before, and each time he’d left feeling incredible. Better than incredible. This had been pre-Afghanistan good. Which was exactly what Fenrir needed.

            “How long will we be flying?” Fenrir asked, gripping the armrests of his chair.

            “About three hours,” Happy said, looking at his watch like he had somewhere to be. As if he weren’t on the plane with his boss. That had to be a priority over working. He was, after all, the one that Happy was working for.

            So next they had takeoff. Tony listened as Happy tried to convince him to up security protocols on the jet, which was not going to happen, and the flight attendants came to give them more drinks. All in all it was looking to be a pretty smooth flight.

            “Hey, kid, are you feeling alright?” Happy asked. Tony looked over at Fenrir, who was looking a little green, and- shit.

            “You don’t like flying,” Tony said, remembering Fenrir’s reaction when Thor had first brought him back to the Tower. How the hell had he managed to forget an alien puking on his roof?

            “I’m fine,” Fenrir insisted. Though, judging by the fact that he wasn’t releasing the death grip on his seat, Tony was pretty sure he was lying. “As long as I don’t look out the windows I’m fine.”

            Okay, Tony thought, he could fix this. First he needed to get one of the flight attendants. Have them get Fenrir a drink, and close all of the windows. Then have them do something distracting. Have them play a movie or something. Did his plane have movies? Regular planes had movies so his had to have something.

            “The theories about you are pretty all over the place. The most common ones are that you’re stealing Pepper away from Tony. Then there are the people who are still insisting that you and Captain America are in some sort of S&M relationship. A few people have suggested that you might be from Asgard, but I don’t think any of those stories have gotten any traction,” Happy said.

            “These are the people from the magazines?” Fenrir asked, sparing Happy a glance, before going back to that spot on the wall in front of him.

            “That and the websites. There are a few that have started up to discuss theories. Some of them are actually pretty funny,” Happy looked over to see what kind of reaction he was going to get, and continued when he saw that Fenrir was indeed listening. “Some people think that you’re a new member of the Avengers, and that you’re just hanging around the Tower until you finish training. One of my favorites is that you’re Tony’s secret love child.”

            “What?!” Tony demanded. Fenrir didn’t even look like him.

            “Don’t act so shocked. With your history it’s inevitable that someone’s going to show up sooner or later wanting a blood test,” Happy said.  Fenrir smirked, and Tony was not okay with that. He had no kids and he never would. Ever. Never, ever, ever.

            “I like that one,” Fenrir said, relaxing a little. “People really haven’t considered that I’m from Asgard?”

            “There’s a few but, like I said, it’s more of a fringe theory,” Happy said. “Most of them are just a sub group of you being a new Avenger. The idea’s that Thor had you shipped in to join the team.”

            “How much time have you spent on this site?” Tony asked.

            “Someone new was living in the Tower. Half of my job is overseeing security of the Tower and I needed to be informed so-” Happy tried to finish but Tony interrupted him.

            “Yeah, yeah, security, safety, let’s get back to these theories,” Tony said. As stupid as most of them were, Tony did not and never would have a kid, talking about all of this seemed to be helping Fenrir relax. So if Tony had his way, and thank God he always did, then they would be talking about this until they landed. “Any other Asgardian theories?”

            “There were a few people who thought you might be some sort of ambassador. And that’s why Pepper was showing you around,” Happy said.

            “And why Steve thought you should try a fetish club,” Tony added. Predictably Fenrir blushed.

            “That didn’t happen,” Fenrir assured Happy.

            “Have any of them been close yet? I mean obviously not you and Pepper dating, but is this some sort of political thing?” Happy asked.

            “No, it’s nothing like that,” Fenrir said.

            “Yeah, E.T. here, just decided that home wasn’t for him and that he wanted to give Earth a try,” Tony said.

            “It’s not as interesting as the escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. test subject theory, but at least it makes more sense than some of them,” Happy replied.

            “How strange do they get?” Fenrir asked, finding this more amusing with every minute.

            “The craziest one has to be the Loki connection,” Happy said. Oh boy, Tony thought, as he saw Fenrir’s smile evaporate.

            “Loki connection?” Fenrir asked quietly.

            “Yeah, there’s this one guy in Cleveland who keeps on pointing out similarities between you and Loki. He’s insisting that you’re his son or something,” Happy said.

            “Really,” Tony said, watching Fenrir.

            “I told you it was crazy. Loki really did have a son on Earth then I think it would be more of a hostage situation, and less of a houseguest,” Happy finished.

            “That would make more sense,” Fenrir said quietly.

            “Happy, since we have some time before we land, why don’t you tell me about your plans for the security checkpoints in the Tower,” Tony said. Admittedly it wasn’t the smoothest subject change that he’d ever done, but Happy was so eager to promote metal detectors on every floor that he didn’t register. Not to mention that he’d spent years working with Tony so he was more used to random changes in thought processes than most people.

            The rest of the flight was mostly filled with Happy suggesting new security policies. The good news was that Fenrir seemed to have adapted to the plane and didn’t seem as anxious. The bad news was that now he looked depressed and miserable. Thankfully they were going to a spa. The flight may have thrown things off track but the plan was still in place. Once they landed things would be okay.

            “You remember how to get there right?” Tony asked as they were getting off the plane.

            “You want me to drive you there?” Happy asked.

            “I didn’t even remember what country we’re in, do you think I remember which route I took to get to the spa?” Tony asked. Happy grumbled at him but still went to drive the car.

            “So you excited?” Tony asked Fenrir, once they were in the back of the car and on the move.

            “What exactly are we going to do?” Fenrir asked.

            “It’s a spa,” Fenrir just looked at Tony in confusion and Tony realized that he was going to have to explain. “Spas are places that people go to to relax. You spend a day in a spa and when you leave you feel incredible. The one we’re going to today is one of the most exclusive spas anywhere. It’s exactly what you need. Trust me, after a day of being pampered you’ll forget all about that little argument you had with your dad.”

            “It wasn’t really so little,” Fenrir said sadly.

            “I saw the security feed of what went down on the roof. The way I see it, your little reunion went pretty well,” Fenrir just stared at Tony with a blank look on his face. “You got a hug didn’t you? Okay, so you need to work a little harder on communication next time. The man’s coming back eventually, and he didn’t kill anyone. I’m counting this one as a win.”

            Fenrir stared at Tony for a minute and then shifted around to look out the window. That was a little rude but Tony decided not to hold it against him. The guy had been going through hell for the past few…well, actually if you counted the years of imprisonment and torture he’d probably been going through hell for more like a millennia. Or was it longer or shorter? He decided not to even go there. The math for Asgard was just too ridiculous. The point was that the guy deserved a pass.

            “Alright, we’re here,” Happy said, holding the door open for Tony and Fenrir.

            “Welcome back, Mister Stark,” said a smiling woman in a white uniform. Tony smiled at how the staff here always managed to appear and disappear. Just like last time. He really did love this place. “The treatments that you’ve scheduled are all ready for you. If you and your guests will just come with me then we can get you started.” The woman led them back through the spa and into the changing rooms.

            “Robes have been provided for you. Just leave your clothes in a locker and come out when your ready. Members of our staff will be waiting to assist you,” She finished, heading out of the room.

            “Why did she keep smiling at me like that?” Fenrir asked, when the woman was gone.

            “Spa people,” Happy replied. “They’re always a little too cheery for my taste.”

            “They’re relaxed,” Tony insisted. “Which is what we’ll all be once we get out there.”

            Tony opened a locker and found a fluffy white robe. Tony wasn’t sure what exactly the robes were made of. He was pretty sure that it was some sort of fur blended with cotton, but when he’d asked the last time they’d just told him it was a trade secret. He had a feeling that that meant he was actually wearing some sort of endangered animal. Part of him wanted to be concerned, but the rest of him was too comfortable to worry about it much. Unfortunatly it didn’t look like everyone felt the same way he did.

            “We’re just supposed to wear this?” Fenrir asked, when Tony came out of the stall he’d been changing in.

            “That’s the idea,” Tony said.

            “But it’s loose. And this belt barely holds it together,” Fenrir said, still making no move to go and get changed.

            “Don’t worry, no one else here will be wearing anything either,” Happy said. It might have even been reassuring if the person he’d told it to hadn’t been Fenrir.

            Tony quickly hurried Happy out of the room. Encouraging him to get a head start on the massage Tony had booked him for. Once his friend was gone Tony refocused on Fenrir.

            “You won’t be in the communal areas. I arranged it so you’ll either have a private room or it will be just us. Even Happy won’t be there. And the staff are all professionals. You’ll be fine,” Tony said. Hoping that he sounded reassuring.

            Fenrir still didn’t seem thrilled about going bare in front of strangers, but he took the robe Tony offered him and went to go get changed.

            A few hours later and Tony had to admit that the locker rooms may have been the highlight of the day. He didn’t know how it could have gone so wrong. He’d had a plan. It had been a good plan. It had been better than a good plan. He had made it, and it was brilliant.

            Yet somehow the day had gone from uncomfortable, to bad to… whatever you’d even call what was happening now.

            “I’ll go call the flight crew,” Happy said, after he’d helped Tonycarry Fenrir over to a lounge chair. “See how soon they’ll be ready to take off.”

            “Good, you go do that,” Tony said, holding Fenrir’s shoulder to make sure that he didn’t fall on his face. “Did you hear that? We’re taking you home.” Tony said.

            “You can’t,” Fenrir said, so quietly that Tony wasn’t sure at first if he’d said anything.

            “I don’t get to go home. I can never leave this place,” Fenrir continued. “I’m being punished.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure he'll be fine. On an unrelated note, I loved all the reviews I got for the last chapter. It made me feel all happy and writey. Keep it up and Fenrir may even survive his trip to the day spa. Not that I'd blackmail you for reviews or anything. Just saying.


	27. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is Sunday, so technically this is done in a week like I promised. Hope you all enjoy.

Four hours earlier:

            Now that Tony had finally managed to get Fenrir out of the changing room they could get back to the original plan of relaxing. Naturally he’d called ahead and arranged for Fenrir to get to try just about every treatment they offered. One way or another Fenrir would be leaving this building relaxed.

            Number one on the list, meditation and aromatherapy. To be fair, this was probably Tony’s least favorite of the treatments that the spa offered. He couldn’t quite see the point of sitting quietly in a room for thirty minutes. They’d tried to make him do the same thing during his brief stint in elementary school; and he hadn’t liked it then either. But the smells were nice and he could always just mentally work on plans for his new suit while Fenrir zenned out.

            Or so he thought. Three minutes into their lemon, lavender, and jasmine scented timeout and Fenrir started to sneeze. This continued about every thirty seconds. After that it was just continuous. Because it turns out that, even though Thor didn’t have any, Asgardians can have allergies. And who the heck could have seen that coming? So much for aromatherapy. That was clearly out. Not that it mattered much. They still had the rest of the day. Even if Fenrir didn’t like everything that they did, one of these would definitely do the trick.

            Once Fenrir had stopped sneezing one of the spa girls came to take them to the next room. Tony really needed to figure out what her name was. Martha, Marta? It was something with an M. Either way, he’d learned a long time ago that it is important to be generous to the people who take care of you at a spa. Especially if you plan on coming back. A good tip could make all the difference on whether or not you get the master masseuse or the guy whose girlfriend just broke up with him and who is looking to take out some aggression.

“You’re a little early, but Miranda says that she can still take both of you right away,” Marta said, smiling at them and holding out her arm towards the next room.

“Thanks, Marta,” Tony said. For a split second the serene smile on Marta’s face slipped into a look of annoyance before snapping back like it had never been gone.

“I hope you both enjoy your manicures. And just so you know my name is Marla,” She said, smiling at them again before leaving. Tony noticed that she was writing something down on the chart with their schedules. He had a sickening feeling that he’d just increased his chances of an angry massage.

“What’s a manicure?” Fenrir asked.

“They clean your nails,” Tony said.

“I usually do that myself,” Fenrir said, clearly not understanding the point of wealthy excess. Which, Tony thought, was a little weird. This guy had spent the early years of his life as royalty. The idea of people doing everything for him shouldn’t be so foreign.

“They do it better,” Tony replied, heading into the room and grabbing a seat. Fenrir followed behind and took the seat next to his. Which was lucky, because if Fenrir had argued any more then he would have found out that Tony didn’t really have any more of a defense for what they were doing. In all honesty he’d just gone down the list of treatments offered and checked yes to each one. He hadn’t even noticed that he’d signed them up for a manicure until they’d gotten here.

It was fine though. Fenrir didn’t need to know that and the whole thing would only take about fifteen minutes. It would be fun enough and then they could move on to the next thing.

Or they would have. If the tray full of tools the manicurist was going to use hadn’t looked the way they did. Tony had never really thought about it before but, now that he looked, he had to say that the stainless steel tools on the table in front of him did bear a certain resemblance to torture implements. And he definitely wasn’t the only one to notice.

“I think I’m happier cleaning them myself,” Fenrir said, turning to Tony in a panic.

Now in all honesty, Tony could have tried to work around the issue. Offered to go first, shown him that it was all harmless. But that was a lot of effort, and the payoff would have been a manicure. Tony decided he’d put the energy elsewhere and they cut the appointment short. 

Next on the list was the mud bath. No sharp instruments in sight. Just bathtubs full of mud. Nice and harmless mud. They have mud on Asgard, Tony thought, as he and Fenrir sat in their individual pools. There was no way that Fenrir could possibly have a problem with mud.

Tony waited a few minutes in silence to make sure that Fenrir didn’t turn out to have any mud related phobias. After watching Fenrir sit quietly in the mud Tony let himself relax. Finally they had found something here that Fenrir could enjoy.

“What exactly is the purpose of this, again?” Fenrir asked.

“It’s relaxing,” Tony said.

“We’re sitting in mud,” Fenrir said, looking at Tony and waiting for an explination.

“It’s not just mud, it’s special mud,” Tony insisted, noticing Fenrir’s reaction turning to mild disbelief. “It has minerals and- okay I’m not sure exactly what’s in it but it is relaxing, and you’ll feel great when you get out.”

“Alright,” Fenrir said, shifting in his tub.

Fenrir sat through the rest of their time in the mud but Tony caught him trying to brush mud off of his arms more than once. Not to mention that he seemed relieved when they were told to go and shower off. So counting the mud baths Tony was scoring zero for three.

The next item on their schedule, well, Tony wasn’t going to dwell on that one. Mainly because he couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen the obvious flaw in trying to put a torture victim into a tub of boiling water. But honestly, who hears hydrotherapy and thinks, ‘this is a terrible idea. Fenrir is going to bolt at the sight of a Jacuzzi’.

            By the time they were ready for massages Tony felt like he needed to relax even more than Fenrir did. God this day had been exhausting. So when smiley little Marla showed up again, he happily followed her to his masseuse. By some stroke of luck, or management remembering how much he had paid the last time he was here, Tony did not get an angry massage. He was actually getting an excellent massage. He probably would have continued getting an excellent massage if Marla hadn’t come in at the ten minute mark looking panicked.

            “Mister Stark, I think you need to come and check on your friend,” She said, hurriedly.

            “Shit, is he freaking out?” Tony said, sitting up and grabbing a towel.

            “No, he’s not upset. He’s just- I really think you should hurry,” She said, rushing him out of the room. Tony pulled on his pants and hurried to follow her down the hall.

            “What happened?” Tony asked, when he got to Fenrir’s room.

            “He stopped talking,” The masseuse said, looking at the table where Fenrir was still lying. “And moving.”

            That was clearly an understatement. One look over at the table and Tony could see that Fenrir had gone practically catatonic. Tony shooed the staff out of the room and went to go and sit by Fenrir.

            “So, the massage was a bad idea,” Tony said. “You don’t like being touched, I probably should have thought about that before. So… sorry about that. But everyone else is gone now. You can get up whenever you want to and we can go do something else. Something with less touching.”

            Tony looked over and saw that Fenrir was sitting up. That was good. He looked like he was either going to cry or be sick, but at least he seemed to be conscious again. Oh, who was Tony kidding, this was going horribly.

            The next item on the list was the sauna; and Tony was not taking any chances with this one. First he made sure that everyone was cleared out of the room that he and Fenrir would be using. Then he went and found Happy, who he was going to place in front of the door to make sure that no one could possibly come in and interrupt/ make Fenrir self-conscious.  Then he had Marla get them about a dozen towels, so that Fenrir could cover as much or as little as he wanted. Tony even took the time to pick out the music that they would be listening to. It wasn’t one of his favorites, but it was something Bruce liked so it had to be soothing.

            As Tony led Fenrir into the sauna he comforted himself in knowing that he had left nothing to chance. It was ridiculous, but he was going to have at least one thing today go off without a problem. Fenrir smiled when he heard what music Tony had picked, and actually leaned back on the bench he was sitting on and stretched out. Finally, Fenrir was relaxing!

            Tony realized that it was all an act at the four minute mark when Fenrir collapsed.

            Luckily Happy was right outside the door and was able to help Tony carry Fenrir out.

            “What happened?” Happy asked, as he tried to help Tony get Fenrir up.

            “I don’t know. One minute he seemed fine and the next thing he’s on the floor,” Tony said.

            “Is he supposed to be this cold?” Happy asked, as he wrapped an arm around Fenrir’s waist and hefted him up.

            “I- I have no idea,” Tony said, helping Happy to move Fenrir out of the room. For someone in a sauna, Fenrir felt more like he’d spent the afternoon playing in the snow. Tony had no idea what was going on with Fenrir but there was no way that it was good.

“I’ll go call the flight crew,” Happy said, after he’d helped Tony carry Fenrir over to a lounge chair. “See how soon they’ll be ready to take off.”

             “Good, you go do that,” Tony said, holding Fenrir’s shoulder to make sure that he didn’t fall on his face. “Did you hear that? We’re taking you home.” Tony said.

            “You can’t,” Fenrir said, so quietly that Tony wasn’t sure at first if he’d said anything.

            “I don’t get to go home. I can never leave this place,” Fenrir continued. “I’m being punished.”

            “What?” Tony asked. “No, this isn’t- this was supposed to be relaxing.” Fenrir’s head began to droop and Tony pushed him back against the chair.

            “I’m sorry,” Tony said, wondering if Fenrir was even still conscious. He was definitely breathing but that was all Tony could say for sure. “I thought this was going to be a good idea. Take a day and then go home relaxed and feeling good. This place always worked for me.”

            “I talked to the pilot,” Happy said, hurrying back in. “He wasn’t planning on leaving for another few hours but he says he can be ready in about forty-five minutes.”

            “And Marla is working on getting us some ice,” Happy added.

            “Ice?” Tony asked.

            “Oh, I texted Pepper. She said if Fenrir’s sick to give him ice,” Happy said.

            “I need to call her,” Tony said, standing up and heading for the door. “Stay with him. When the ice gets here just dump it on him.”

            “You’re not serious,” Happy said.

            “Just trust me,” Tony said. He left the room and hurried down the hall to the locker where he’d left his clothes. He needed to talk to Pepper. She would know how to fix this. She might even know what was going on with Fenrir. They talked, maybe he’d given her a hint for what to do if he turned into a Popsicle.

            “Pepper,” Tony said, as his call went through.

            “Where did you take him?!” Pepper demanded, as soon as she heard Tony’s voice.

            “I took him to the Royal Ezherik, but I d-” Tony tried to explain.

            “You took him to Spain? I thought we agreed that you were going to take him to see a play?” Pepper said.

            “I thought he would like this more,” Tony said, trying to get dressed while he made his call. He wanted to get out of here as soon a possible.

            “You thought he would like going to a spa?” Pepper asked. “You thought taking someone who had been tortured to a place where he would be mostly naked, with strangers touching him, and thought it would be a good idea?”

            “I was tortured, and this is the exact place where you sent me to rest up,” Tony said, digging through the shelves to find where Fenrir had left his things.

            “Tony there are a few key differences in the way that you two were tortured,” Pepper said.

            “What do you mean there are…oh, that,” Tony said, realizing how massively he had messed things up.

            “Yeah, that,” Pepper said, managing to send waves of frustration and disapproval through Tony’s phone. “Now, is Fenrir just having flashbacks, or did he actually hurt himself? Happy’s message just said sick.”

            “I’m not sure. He seemed fine until we were in the sauna. Then he collapsed and now he’s cold and talking about never being allowed to go home,” Tony explained.

            “You took him into the sauna?! Damn it, Tony, Fenrir’s half Frost Giant. They don’t do well in heat,” Pepper said.

            “How could I have known that?” Tony asked.

            “Just give him ice, get him calmed down, and get him back here,” Pepper ordered. Then, before Tony could ask her how he was supposed to snap Fenrir out of whatever state he was in, Pepper hung up.  

            Tony forced himself to go back to the lounge and found Happy reading something from his phone out loud.

            “At which point they were strongly encouraged to leave the zoo. It looks like Thor won’t be getting a panda pelt this year either. Between their day on the town, and last week’s appearance at _The Sea Pearl,_ Thor has definitely taken an interest in New York’s new favorite mystery man. As he makes his way through the lineup he has given more support than ever to the rumors that the Avengers may soon have a new member,” Happy said, looking up from his phone to where Fenrir had reclined his chair. Tony noticed that Fenrir’s head, shoulders and lap were covered in ice cubes.

            “You told me to dump them on him,” Happy said, when he saw where Tony was looking.

            “How are you feeling?” Tony asked.

            “They think I’m going to be an Avenger,” Fenrir said, shifting his head over to look at Tony and smiling. “It would be almost poetic if it were true.”

            “You think you can handle the drive back to the plane?” Tony asked. Fenrir nodded slightly and Happy stepped over to help Fenrir stand up. “You can have Happy read you some more tabloids when we get on the plane.”

&&&&&&&&

           

            It had taken some surveailinace work, and some help from Jarvis, but Clint was finally able to find a time where everyone was busy. Which meant that there was no one to stop him and Fenrir from watching the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring.

            Clint was glad that he hadn’t had to wait too long before he had been able to make movie day part two happen. He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened when Tony had taken Fenrir out but, judging by the way the kid had been shaking when he’d come back, it clearly hadn’t gone well. So Fenrir needed a day of lying on the couch, eating junk food, and watching movies.

            Fenrir loved Fellowship. Which, of course he had. The movie kicks ass. So take that Tony. And everyone else who said that it shouldn’t be on Fenrir’s movie list.

            As the end credits began to roll Fenrir looked like he was about to cry. Clint knew that, even with Jarvis’s help, he probably didn’t have enough time for another three hour movie. But it would have been cruel to just leave him wondering what was going to happen to everyone. So he put Two Towers in. There really wasn’t any other option.

            While he waited for the previews to finish, Clint pulled out his cell phone and quick made a call, waited and then hung up. He smiled as he put it back in his pocket.

            “Why do you keep doing that if you don’t talk?” Fenrir asked.

            “I changed Steve’s ringtone to play the Hamster Dance at full volume. I also changed his password so he can’t change it back,” Clint explained.

            “How many times have you called him?” Fenrir said, actually smiling. And who knew Fenrir could even do that?

            “I’ve been doing it about every ten minutes since I changed it this morning. However many that makes,” Clint said, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box in front of him.

            “He’ll know that it’s you,” Fenrir said.

            “Not for a while,” Clint said, pulling out his cell phone and handing it to Fenrir. “New cell phone so he won’t recognize the number. I bought it just for this.”

            Fenrir looked at the phone for a minute and then laughed. He handed the phone back to Clint and turned his focus back to the television. The movie had started. Clint tossed his phone on the table and grabbed a soda.

            “You having another movie day?” Steve asked, when he came through the doorway a few minutes later.

             “Had to, since none of you appreciate good movies,” Clint said, hoping that Steve hadn’t been around soon enough to hear about his phone plans. He’d hoped to get another day out of it before he got caught.

            “Clint, do you think I could talk to you for a minute?” Steve asked.

            “Sure,” Clint said, making no move to get up from the couch.

            “I meant alone, Clint,” Steve said. Damn it, Clint thought, he knows about the phone.

            “Should I leave?” Fenrir asked.

            “No, watch the movie,” Clint said, getting up. “I’ll be back.” Clint followed Steve down the hall and into an empty room. “So what’s up?”

             “We need to talk,” Steve said.

            “Yeah, I got that. What’s the big issue?” Clint asked. Steve shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. Clint suddenly knew that whatever Steve wanted to talk to him about, it was much bigger than his phone.

“Listen, Clint, I’m glad that you’ve been able to work through all of the issues that you had with Fenrir. And it really is nice the way that you’ve been spending time with him. I know that Thor appreciates it. I just want to make sure…” Steve trailed off.

Clint stared at him, wondering what he was getting at. Did he think that him being nice to Fenrir was all an act? That he was going to do something nasty, or beat him up again? God! Clint thought, would anyone ever let him live down that stupid day in the library?

            “I just wanted to make sure that you’re… being realistic about… what you’re starting,” Steve finished, apparently avoiding looking Clint in the eye. Clint just waited for Steve to say something else. He honestly had no idea what the other man was getting at.

            “I know that you miss Natasha,” Steve began again. “And I know that a lot has changed anymore as far as how relationships work and what’s okay now. But I really don’t think that you pursuing something with Fenrir is a good idea.”

            “What?” Clint choked out. He had to be misunderstanding this. There was no way that Steve was saying what it sounded like he was saying.

            “He wants to give people what they want. He tries to go along with what he thinks is expected so if he thinks that you’re interested then he’ll probably act like he is too. But he’s not anywhere ready for-”

            “What exactly do you think I’m trying to do here?” Clint asked, sure that he had to be misunderstanding. There was no way that Steve thought- there was just no way.

            “I’m not the only one that’s worried,” Steve said. “It’s just that if you and Fenrir start something physical then I don’t see any way that it doesn’t end badly. For everyone.”

            “How did,- why would I? What makes you think that I want ‘physical’ things from Fenrir?” Clint asked, feeling sick. This was not happening.

            “You have kind of been going out of your way to spend time with him. And when we all came to watch movies with you two you looked like you wanted to chase us all out with a bat,” Steve said.

            “I did not,” Clint insisted.

“Clint, when I sat between you two, you practically growled at me,” Steve said.

“That was…” Clint struggled to think of an excuse that didn’t sound bad.

            “I thought it was a little weird then, but I figured you were just really determined to make things right from before,” Steve explained, leaning stiffly against the wall behind him. “But then after what Fenrir was saying about the carnival, it seemed pretty obvious-”

“What did Fenrir say about the carnival?” Clint asked quickly. Shit. How much did Steve know? Did Fenrir told him about the kiss? Shit, shit, shit.

“He said that you spent the whole day taking him around and that you won him that huge horse.” Steve said. Thank God, Clint thought, he doesn’t know about the kiss. He might still live to see the end of the day.

            “I’m not blaming you for being interested in him. Fenrir’s a good looking guy and he’s sweet, but there’s just no way that he’d be able to handle anything like-”

“Stop!” Clint said. This was getting insanely uncomfortable and he needed to stop it. “It’s nice that you want to protect Fenrir from my lust, or whatever, but I don’t actually want to fuck him.”

            “Clint, come on,” Steve said.

“No, really, I’m pretty focused on Natasha. I’m pretty sure I remember you being there when I professed my love to her and tried to propose. It was pretty loud, and repetitive. I think there might have been something in there about buying a farm,” Clint said, cringing at the memory. “ Besides do you honestly think that I could go from wanting to throw him off of the Tower to wanting to get him into bed?”

“It makes about as much sense as you going from wanting to throw him off of the Tower, to wanting to be buddies with him,” Steve replied.

“We aren’t-” Clint was going to keep going. Insist that there was no way that he was going to be friends with Loki’s son. But all conversation was interrupted when Steve’s pocket started blaring the Hamster Dance.

“For the love of,” Steve said, pulling out his phone and smashing the button to hang up. “It’s been doing that all day.”

            “We aren’t friends,” Clint repeated, trying to keep a straight face as Steve stared at his phone and tried to figure out how to turn down the volume. “Everyone’s been hanging out with him. I’m just being nice.”

 They talked for a little while longer with Steve getting more and more embarrassed as he realized that Clint really had no interest in sleeping with Fenrir. With one last assurance that he wouldn’t be banging their houseguest, Clint left a blushing Steve to go and rejoin Fenrir.

            As he made his way back to the room Clint decided that he should probably tell Fenrir what Steve had thought was going on. The last thing that he needed was for Fenrir to think that he was into him again. The more Clint thought about it the more he began to think that maybe it would be better for everyone if he stopped hanging around Fenrir altogether.

            The plan had been to be nice, cheer Fenrir up a little, and show everyone that he wasn’t an ass. He’d done all that. He’d actually done it a couple of times now. So he didn’t need to keep doing it. And if Steve had noticed that he was  spending too much time with Fenrir then he was definitely spending too much time with Fenrir. It wasn’t like he needed Clint with him to watch the rest of Lord of the Rings. Clint could just give him the discs and he could watch them by himself. This would be better. His good deed was done and so were him and Fenrir.

“Gandalf’s alive,” Fenrir said, smiling when he saw Clint reenter the room.

            “Yeah, he is,” Clint said, looking over at the screen. This really was a good movie. Reclaiming his seat on the couch, he stretched out to grab some popcorn. That was when he noticed that his phone wasn’t where he left it.

            “Did you make a call while I was gone?” Clint asked.

            “It would have been suspicious if the calls had stopped completely while you were with him,” Fenrir replied, keeping his focus on the screen as he handed Clint his phone.

            Clint laughed to himself as he took his cell back. Reclining back on the couch he decided that it wouldn’t hurt to finish the series with Fenrir before they stopped hanging out. It made more sense than ditching him in the middle of the movie. It wasn’t like there was any rush to stop hanging around Fenrir. He’d get to it eventually. But for the moment he was more than happy to watch Legolas take down some orcs.

                                                             &&&&&&&&

 

             Loki looked down at the staff in his hand. It was heavier than the one he’d brought to Midgard with him, but that was to be expected. It had been made with a completely different purpose.

            Looking around he thought that Svartalfheim truly hadn’t changed at all in the years since he’d been here last. The field he was standing in looked exactly as it had on the day when everything had gone wrong. Loki hadn’t set foot in the realm since, and he hadn’t intended to. That was of course before he had known the truth. Things were all so different now.

Looking down at the staff again Loki smiled at what the dwarves had been able to create. It truly was a masterpiece. Especially since he’d waited and allowed them the time to finish this one. He’d had such plans for how he was going to use it on Midgard. The Avengers wouldn’t have stood a chance. It was almost sad that they would never know how close they had come to utter destruction.

             Not that any of that truly mattered. Not when he had something so much more important to focus on. Loki took one last look at Svartalfheim’s capital city. This wasn’t what he’d had the weapon made for. This hadn’t been the plan but, Loki knew, that this would be worlds more satisfying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been loving all of the reviews I have gotten in the last few chapters and I just want to say thanks! I love knowing what everyone who is reading this is thinking. See you all in a week.


	28. Chapter...I've been breaking chapters up and now I don't know where I'm at. I think it says 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Just want to thank the people who have been reviewing. I really love it. It makes me happy and less likely to torture beloved fictional characters.  
> Sorry about the wait. I'm trying to write faster.

“Were you actually out shopping? I thought spending money went against your religion.” Tony said, as soon as he saw Steve step through out of the elevator. “What was there a sale on denture cream that you just couldn’t miss?”

            Steve considered reminding Tony that he was actually significantly younger than him, but decided that it just wasn’t worth it. “Do you two just lurk in hallways now or were you waiting for me?” Steve said, looking over at Bruce.

            “Think it’s all about you, don’t you Rogers?” Tony said, stepping down the hall. “We were just going down to the lab. Now what’s in the bag?” Tony asked, grabbing the plastic bag out of Steve’s hand and digging through it.

            “Give me that,” Steve said, snatching the bag back. “It’s just a new cell phone.”

            “What was wrong with your old one?” Bruce asked.

            “Please tell me that you bought a new one just because you couldn’t figure out how to change your ringtone,” Tony said with, Steve noticed, about the same level of glee he’d had as when found out that someone was making an Avengers themed lingerie line.

            “No, I didn’t buy a new phone just because of the ring tone,” Steve insisted. He tried to move past Tony but the man was determined.

            “So what was wrong with the old one? You’ve only had it for a few months,” Tony said.

            “I…,” Steve tried to think of an excuse but knew he was caught. Even if he tried to lie he knew that it was only a matter of time until Jarvis produced a video of the whole thing. “I smashed it with the shield, alright.”

            “You smashed it?” Bruce asked.

            “That is beautiful. Jarvis, tell me you have video of that?” Tony asked.

            “Of course, sir. I took the liberty of recording the incident from several different angles,” Jarvis said.

            Steve just groaned. He’d known that Jarvis would record him, that was inevitable, but did he really need multiple views of the whole thing?

            “Okay, here’s what I need,” Tony said. “Jarvis, I want you to edit all the footage together and arrange it on an endless loop. I want to be able to project this on the walls of next year’s Christmas party.”

            “Because that’s what everyone needs to see during the holidays,” Bruce said, leaning against a wall.

“It’s a holiday for joy. And getting to watch Captain America throw a hissy fit and destroy his phone, will bring me endless joy,” Tony said.

“I live to bring you joy, Tony,” Steve said, stepping around his teammates and heading down the hall.

“Before you run off you should know that Pepper’s been looking for you,” Tony added.

“What’s she need?” Steve asked.

“Probably wants to lecture you on your lack of involvement lately. Which is great because being annoyed with you has made her completely forget that she was annoyed with me,” Tony said.

“Why would Pepper be mad at me?” Steve asked. He honestly had no idea. He’d barely even seen Pepper for more than a few minutes at a time in the past week.

“She didn’t say. It’s probably got something to do with the fact that you’re the only one here who hasn’t gotten on board with the puppy project,” Tony said. Steve just looked at him and tried to figure out if he was talking about one of Pepper’s charities.

“He’s talking about Fenrir,” Bruce clarified.

“What about Fenrir?” Steve asked, still feeling confused.

“Pepper asked everyone to help her cheer up our emo little houseguest, and you sir have been avoiding him like the plague,” Tony said.

“I haven’t been avoiding him. I’m just not sure if spending time with me is something he’d want to do,” Steve said. Though, if he were being honest, he was sure that Fenrir didn’t want to be around him. The last time that he and Fenrir had been alone Fenrir had confessed some pretty personal things to him. Ever since, Steve had noticed, that Fenrir would always quiet down when they were in a room together for too long. Then of course there was that other thing.

“Oh, you mean because you accused him and Clint of being lovers,” Tony said.

“That is not what I said!” Steve insisted, unable to stop himself from turning bright red. God he was never going to live that one down. “That’s not what I meant anyway.”

“Fenrir doesn’t have a problem with you,” Bruce assured him. “He’s a little embarrassed around you but he’ll get over it. Just spend some time with him and help him get his mind off of things.”

“What should I do?” Steve asked, embarrassed to admit that he couldn’t think of anything. “You and Pepper already covered art and books.”

“He’s not exactly high maintenance. Tony basically gave him heat stroke and Fenrir still said he had an okay day,” Bruce said.

“He was fine once we got him some ice,” Tony interrupted. But it seemed that all the time Bruce had spent with Tony had paid off, and he’d learned how to completely tune the man out.

“Like I said, it doesn’t need to be anything big. If you can’t think of anything then just let him tag along while you do whatever you normally do,” Bruce suggested.

“That’ll be a fun day for him. He can watch while I spend hours on the internet trying to figure out what slang terms mean, and then we can go and hunt down some terrorists together,” Steve said. He wasn’t proud of it but he knew that he was pretty boring. Most of his time was spent doing work for the Avengers, and more and more lately for S.H.I.E.L.D. Aside from that he mostly just tried to catch up on all of the things that he’d missed during his hibernation. None of which were really group activities.

“You could always take him down to the gym and teach him a few punches,” Tony suggested. This suggestion was met with cold silence so Tony decided to change his answer. “Or maybe you can just let him watch you punch things for an hour.”

Steve wanted to point out why that was a bad idea, but stopped when he was forced to admit that he didn’t have anything better. Steve pushed his hair back and groaned inwardly.

“I do nothing that would be even remotely interesting to do with another person,” Steve said.

“Wow, no wonder you never seem to get past the second date,” Tony says. Steve turned his head to glare at Tony but Bruce quickly spoke up.

“Like I said before, you don’t need to wow him. He just needs something to get his mind off of things for a while,” Bruce said with a smile. “Don’t overthink it.”

“Don’t think on it too long either,” Tony added, as Bruce began making his way down the hall. “You don’t want to be the only Avenger who hasn’t done anything with him.”

“What about Natasha?” Steve asked.

“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Tony said with a smile. “She sent a card.”

 

                                                A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

 

 

            “I take it this means that it’s your turn to entertain me?” Fenrir said, standing stiffly in the doorway to his room.

            “Is that a no?” Steve asked. He’d stayed up late trying to figure out something to do with Fenrir, but in the end the best he could come up with was to ask him to come along while he went for a run. He now had a strong feeling, if Fenrir’s reaction was anything to go on, that he should have tried something else.

            “You don’t need to do this. I appreciate what you all have been doing. It is touching, but I don’t want to be inconveniencing your lives.” Fenrir said.

            “It’s not an inconvenience, I go jogging in Central park every morning when I have the time,” Steve said.

            “Yes, I know that,” Fenrir said.

            “So, do you want to come?” Steve repeated.

            It took almost a minute for Fenrir to decide on an answer. “I’ll go get dressed,” he said.

                                                 

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A       

 

            Steve didn’t usually think much about how he looked when he was exercising. He’d never seen the point in putting effort into an outfit that was going to be covered in sweat. So when he went running he usually didn’t bother with anything more complicated than a t-shirt and some sweatpants.

            Tony Stark, not surprisingly, did not feel the same way about this. And, since he had been responsible for Fenrir’s entire wardrobe, when Fenrir had come to run with Steve he’d been wearing a gray, designer, jogging suit. Because apparently Gucci made tracksuits. Steve hadn’t known that.

            The massive difference in their wardrobes aside, the run in the park was actually going pretty well. Steve had to keep reminding himself to slow up, but that was fine. He never got much of a workout when he was running anyway. It was all about distance if he wanted to break a sweat, and running with someone else was relaxing. Steve looked over to Fenrir to make sure that he wasn’t bored, and that was when he realized that something was off.

Every once and a while some S.H.I.E.L.D recruits would find out that he ran in the park, then show up and ask to join him. That was fine with him, but it never lasted very long. Even if he held back and didn’t run too fast he’d only ever seem to get a few blocks before whoever he was running with would be slowing down or needing to stop. Meanwhile he and Fenrir had just gone halfway around the park, and Fenrir wasn’t even out of breath. Steve stopped suddenly and Fenrir slid to a stop next to him.

“You’re holding back,” Steve said. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed this sooner.

“No I’m no,” Fenrir said.

            “You’re not even out of breath,” Steve said. Fenrir shifted slightly from foot to foot for a moment before he replied.

             “You weren’t running fast either,” He said, staring at the ground.

            “How fast can you go?” Steve asked. Fenrir just shrugged his shoulders and kept his eyes on the ground. “The path here is straight for a while.” Steve offered. He had no idea what to expect but was dying to know what Fenrir was capable of. Thor was strong but when he was in a rush he just flew, so who even knew what Asgardians could do.

            “I don’t know if…” Fenrir said, trailing off as he eyed the empty path in front of them.

At first it didn’t seem like Fenrir was going to go anywhere. He just kept looking back and forth between Steve and the path. Then, just as Steve was about to tell him to forget the whole thing, Fenrir bolted.

Steve stood stunned for a minute before he was able to run after him. He could barely believe what was happening. For the first time since the serum he had to push to keep up with someone. It was an incredible feeling.

After about a mile Fenrir stumbled over a rock and then veered off to the side of the path to collapse in the grass. Steve slowed down and went to stand over Fenrir.

            “I haven’t-” Fenrir began, breathing deeply. “I haven’t been able to move like that since I was a child.” Fenrir smiled up at the sky as he continued catching his breath.

            “Impressive,” Steve said, offering a hand to help Fenrir up.

            “I used to be faster,” Fenrir said, still smiling as he let Steve pull him up. “Used to be able to run for longer too.”

            “Really?” Steve said, raising an eyebrow. Fenrir looked over at him and, seeing the challenge for what it was, took off down the path.

            “I’ve missed this,” Fenrir said, when he was finally ready to stop.

“You should start coming out with me. Get back in shape,” Steve offered.

“Come jogging with you?” Fenrir asked. “I thought this was just for today.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Steve said, feeling confused. He’d thought Fenrir had been enjoying himself. Now all of a sudden he seemed nervous. “I just thought you might like the chance to go running more often.”

“You run every day, don’t you?” Fenrir asked.

“When I can,” Steve replied.

“Are you sure you’d want me around that often?”

“Sure. It’ll be nice to run with someone I don’t have to stop and wait for,” Steve said.

“You wouldn’t be the one waiting,” Fenrir muttered.

“You know that I can hear you when you whisper, right?” Steve asked. Fenrir smirked at him, and didn’t that just say it all.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” Steve said, beginning his walk out of the park. “But think about coming out again.”

“I’ll consider-” Fenrir froze midsentence.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked. Hurrying back over to Fenrir.

“Do you hear that?” Fenrir said, looking around him.

Steve looked around him and tried to figure out what Fenrir was talking about. He couldn’t hear anything that they hadn’t heard all morning. Just cars, birds, occasional voices. Really the only thing that was even different was…

“Do you mean the barking?” Steve asked. Fenrir didn’t say anything but continued looking around nervously. “Don’t worry. It’s just some people walking their dogs.”

Fenrir spun to face Steve. “We should go,”

“You don’t like dogs?” Steve said, taking Fenrir by the hand and leading them out of the park.

“No, I love them, I just,” Fenrir continued looking around him nervously. The barking seemed to be getting closer and Fenrir was getting more and more anxious. “You have to understand that being a shape shifter, sometimes things slip through. Even if I’m not using magic.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve said.

“Sometim--yaah!” Fenrir yelped as a Saint Bernard ran out from behind a bush and dove onto Fenrir’s chest. Steve was about to pull the dog off of him but before he had the chance he was knocked over by a wave of fur. Steve jumped back up and saw at least ten dogs were all piled onto Fenrir

“Oh, my God!!” A man yelled. Running over he tried to grab a handful of leashes to pull the dogs off.

“Hold on Fenrir!” Steve called out, as he hurried to grab a Doberman from the pile and pull him to the side. Steve hurried to grab hold of another dog, and was finally able to see Fenrir again. It was at that point that it became clear that Fenrir was not being attacked.

            Fenrir was laughing. Which was a pretty reasonable reaction, considering that the dogs on top of him were all trying to snuggle him at once. Steve had seen a lot of strange things since he’d become Captain America but, for some reason, seeing Fenrir at the bottom of a puppy pile had left him speechless. Probably, he had to admit, it had a lot to do with the fact that Fenrir was laughing. In all the time Fenrir had been on Earth Steve had never heard him laugh once.

            “I am so sorry about this,” The man next to Steve said, pulling more dogs off Fenrir, and snapping Steve back into focus. “I swear they’ve never done this before.”

            “It’s alright,” Fenrir said, now that he had enough space to sit up. He reached out and wrapped his arm around the closest dog. “Calm down.” He said, once he had the dog at eye level.

            Steve watched as one by one the dogs stopped barking and went to sit down.

            “Okaaay,” The man said, reaching down to grab the remaining leashes. “I’m just gonna take them and go now.” The man took several steps back before turning and hurrying away with all of his dogs.

            “I’m sorry for that,” Fenrir said, looking up at Steve as the man and his dogs disappeared from view. “That has been known to happen when they’re in groups like that.”

            “How did you get them to calm down?” Steve asked.

            “I asked them to,” Fenrir said.

            “Okay,” Steve said, holding out a hand to help Fenrir up. “How about I buy you lunch and you can explain what just happened.”

            “Alright,” Fenrir said, grabbing his hand and pulling himself up. “Is Tony going to be paying for this?”

            “No, why would he be?” Steve asked.

            Fenrir shrugged his shoulders. “Tony seems to be paying for most of the things I do outside the Tower.”

            Twenty minutes later, after raiding a hotdog cart and finding a bench, Fenrir was ready to talk.

            “So explain the dogs,” Steve said.

            “It’s just part of being a shape shifter. All shape shifters have one form that is more natural than any others that they could take,” Fenrir explained.

            “And you’re a wolf?” Steve asked, handing Fenrir a hot dog on top of a pile of napkins.

            “Yes. My other form is the wolf,” Fenrir said, shifting slightily to the side as he took the food. “But regardless of what your other form is, there will be some…presence, even when you’re not using magic. For instance someone whose other form is a cat would be more naturally graceful, and have much better eyesight.”

            “How about you? What do you get from being a wolf?” Steve asked, opening one of the sodas they’d gotten from the hotdog cart.

            “Why do you think I’m so fast?” Fenrir said, with a smile. “My senses are also stronger than average. Better hearing.” Fenrir then got up from the bench and began digging through the bag of drinks Steve had bought. After finally deciding on one he moved to sit back on the bench. “I like this one.” He explained, when he noticed Steve watching him.

            “Still doesn’t explain the dogs,” Steve said.

            “Dogs can usually sense that there is something canine about me. Since they can’t figure out how, they often want to come and investigate for themselves. At which point they usually see me as a novelty and want to come and play.

            “If their owner is there then the focus can be redirected, I can do that too if I know what is coming. You saw that today. It is just when they travel in packs that it can become a problem,” Fenrir said.

            “And they always just listen to you like that?” Steve asked, finishing up his lunch.

            “If the animal’s friendly, of course. It is one of the reasons I was lucky in my choice of animals,” Fenrir said, looking pensive. Steve raised an eyebrow in question and Fenrir hurried to answer. “I once knew a man whose other form was a bear. They were significantly **less** cooperative.”

            Steve mentally cringed at the image that came to mind at that thought of a pack of bears. Looking back over to Fenrir, he decided to change the subject.

            “So, how do you like the hotdogs?” Steve asked.

            “They’re good. They’re like the one’s Clint bought me at the carnival,” Fenrir said, smiling briefly, before taking a drink of his soda.

            “I forgot that you would have had these before,” Steve said.

            “He’s been having me try a lot of foods lately,” Fenrir said. “Tony says that we are bros now. I’m not quite sure what that means, but I had the impression that it was a positive thing.”

            Hearing Fenrir talk about bros with so much seriousness almost made Steve choke on his soda. He tried to hide his reaction, but had a feeling that Fenrir had noticed.

            “It is, it’s a good thing,” Steve said, even though Fenrir was narrowing his eyes at Steve in suspicion. “It just means that you’re friends.”

            “Indeed,” Fenrir said, still not looking totally convinced.

            “I mean it. It’s a good thing. It’s great that you and Clint have been getting along so well lately,” Steve insisted.

            “We have been getting along,” Fenrir said.

            Steve couldn’t be entirely sure but, just before Fenrir began speaking again, he could have sworn he saw Fenrir smirk.

            “And you’ll be happy to know that, since your conversation with him, Clint has been very respectful,” Fenrir said, downing the last of his soda. 

            No, Steve thought, he couldn’t be talking about what it seemed. Clint had been embarrassed. He would never have gone back an told Fenrir. He had to be talking about something else.

            “I believe that he has completely put aside any thoughts of pursuing me romantically,” Fenri said.

            Steve froze. Fenrir knew. Quickly he tried to figure out how much Fenrir could actually know. Clint wouldn’t have told him everything. Maybe Fenrir didn’t know how obscenely ridiculous Steve had been. Then he remembered; Fenrir had enhanced hearing. With a growing sense of dread Steve knew, Fenrir had heard everything.

            “Look an ice cream cart,” Steve said jumping up. “I bet you haven’t had that yet. I’ll go buy you some.”

            “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Fenrir said to Steve’s retreating form. “It was an easy mistake to make.” Fenrir said.

            Steve hurried over to buy some ice cream and tried to ignore what sounded like Fenrir snickering behind him. “Here,” Steve said handing Fenrir a cup of vanilla before going to gather up the trash from their lunch.

            “We should probably head back to the Tower soon,” Steve said, still keeping his eyes off of Fenrir. “I told Thor we’d be back after the run. So we’re late already.”

            Steve finally looked over at Fenrir and saw that he was completely frozen. His eyes were wide open and staring fixed at the cup Steve had just given him.

            “Fenrir? Fenrir are you okay?” Steve asked.

            “This is… perfect,” Fenrir said, still staring transfixed at his ice cream.

 

                                                       A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

           

            It took another half hour, and several more servings of ice cream, before Steve was able to convince Fenrir that they should head back to the Tower. Luckily by then he seemed to have forgotten that Steve was an idiot. A fact that was making Steve incredibly grateful.

            Although, despite finding out that Fenrir had heard his conversation with Clint, the trip to the park had been pretty nice. It had been a long time since Steve had been around anyone who could keep up with him. It was surprisingly relaxing to be able to run with someone else.

            “The offer still stands,” Steve said, as he dropped Fenrir off at his room. “If you’re ever interested in coming running again, just let me know. I could use the company.”

            “I’ll… consider it,” Fenrir said, after a brief hesitation.

            “Rogers!” Thor called, hurrying down the hall. “Banner has just received word that  a man calling himself Tin Man is trying to rob a bank.”

            Steve groaned. The last thing they needed was another Iron man copycat.

            “Banner and Barton are already on the roof, but Stark is away,” Thor continued.

            “Good,” Steve said, heading down the hall to get his suit. “Make sure no one call him. Maybe if we get this done quick enough than Tony won’t hear about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: See, Fenrir can leave the building without disaster striking. Hope you're all ready for the next chapter. Not to give spoilers or anything but... well, you're about to see what Loki's been up to.
> 
> Hope to hear what you all think of this chapter. My doctor says that positive and constructive reviews will make me write faster. Just saying. See you next chapter.


	29. Loki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anyone been wondering what Loki's been up to since we last saw him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay in posting. I was having a lot of trouble getting a certain demi-god to sound in character. Still not sure if I completely succeeded, but you all have waited long enough.

 

_After spending the morning listening to Fandral and Volstagg argue over who had killed more bilgesnipe on their last outing, (they’d both only killed two), Loki wanted nothing more than to find someplace quiet. Wandering through his mother’s gardens he finally found a spot out of sight and sat down, leaning his back against a tree. The sun was warm overhead and Loki relaxed as he stretched his legs out on the grass. This was exactly what he had needed._

_All too soon the moment was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Loki closed his eyes and slid closer to the ground. Hoping that whoever was coming through would assume that he was asleep and leave him be._

_“Papa? Are you out here?” Fenrir whispered, as he attempted to sneak through the gardens. Loki couldn’t repress a smile at the knowledge that, if Fenrir was here, then he’d once again abandoned his weapons training._

_“There you are,” Fenrir said, hurrying over to where Loki was still lying. “Papa? Papa, wake up.” Fenrir said, as he crouched down next to his father. Fenrir stretched out a hand to nudge him awake, and that was when Loki made his move._

_In one quick movement Loki had jumped off the ground, grabbed Fenrir by the waist, and spun him around. Fenrir giggled for a moment before pushing himself free._

_“That wasn’t fair, I thought you were asleep,” Fenrir pouted._

_“You’ll just have to learn to be more observant,” Loki replied. “And speaking of learning, shouldn’t you be training with Magni?”_

_“Magni… is,” Fenrir struggled to come up with an answer. “Magni is dead.”_

_“Dead? I hadn’t heard,” Loki raised an eyebrow at his son_

_“It was very sudden,” Fenrir continued. “He was training and landed on one of his swords. It was very, very sad.”_

_“You truly are a horrendous liar,” Loki said with a smile. “I’ll never understand where you get that.” Noticing that Fenrir’s hair had been mussed by his spin, Loki reached out to try and smooth it down. Fenrir quickly responded by jumping back and shaking his head from side to side._

_“He was making me train with spears,” Fenrir admitted, once he was sure that his hair hadn’t accidentally been brought under control. “I hate spears. Besides I have something to show you.”_

_Loki reclaimed his seat by the tree and looked at his son. “Show me,”_

_“Close your eyes first,” Fenrir ordered. Loki did as instructed and waited. “Now look.” Loki opened his eyes and found himself face to face with Thor, looking exactly the way he had when they’d been children._

_“What do you think? Is it good?” Thor asked, in Fenrir’s voice._

_“I’m pleased that you’re practicing your illusions,” Loki admitted, admiring the affect. “But must you mimic such an ugly child when you do?”_

_“I’m not ugly, I’m Thor!” Fenrir insisted._

_“My mistake,” Loki said, holding out an arm and allowing Fenrir to sit next to him. “It’s a very impressive illusion Fenris. But how in the nine did you find out what your uncle looked like at your age?”_

_“Frigga showed me a portrait of you all,” Fenrir said, leaning against his father. “Why does Thor always look so angry in paintings?”_

_“Paintings require that their subjects stand still. Often for hours at a time. That is something that your uncle has never been very good at.”_

_“It’s good though? I look like him don’t I?” Fenrir asked, looking up at his father hopefully._

_“It’s remarkable,” The sound of heavy footsteps tramping towards them assured Loki that he had made a terrible choice in his quest for privacy._

_“Loki! I need for you to come back and help me settle this argument. They’re both insisting that they took down twenty each and now-” Thor stopped talking when he saw Fenrir. A smile quickly spread over his face. “Fenris, may I say that you look exceptionally handsome today. I knew you would grow into your looks one of these days.”_

_Fenrir giggled for a moment before responding. “Do you like it?”_

_“It’s very impressive. You know the first time your father tried an illusion like this he ended up with a pig face,” Thor said._

_“Really?” Fenrir asked happily, looking up at his father._

_“It was an easy mistake to make. I was trying to mirror Volstagg,” Loki replied._

_“Let’s go show this to the others. Maybe seeing you like this will get Volstagg and Fandral to forget about bilgesnipe,” Thor said. Fenrir immediately jumped up to follow Thor but Loki held out a hand to stop him._

_“First you need to return to Magni and finish your lessons,” Loki said._

_“Can’t I do that later?” Fenrir pleaded._

_“There isn’t a later. Unless you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to go to Svartalfheim with us,” Loki said._

_Fenrir dropped the illusion of Thor and stood pouting before his father. “I’ll go,”_

_“Go finish your lessons, and we’ll show off your illusions later,” Loki said, kneeling down in front of his son. “We’ll go in first. Tell everyone that one of my spells went wrong and that you’re really Thor deaged.” Fenrir’s face split into a grin as he spun and ran off toward the training areas._

_“So you’re still set on bringing him to Svartalfheim with us. You’re sure you can’t be persuaded to leave him behind?” Thor asked._

_“Yes, Thor, I’m sure,” Loki said._

_“He’s going to be bored. I don’t see why you’re so determined to take him along. I wouldn’t even be going to these discussions if I didn’t have to.”_

_Loki watched as Fenrir disappeared out of the gardens. “Thor, what do you see when you look at my son?” He asked, straightening up._

_“I see Fenris, what kind of a question-”_

_“That’s not how others see him,” Loki said, interrupting Thor. “In the eyes of most of the court my son is a joke. A mistake that I refused to rectify.”_

_“Anyone who spends time with the boy can see his value,” Thor said._

_“If my son is going to have a future here then I need to start building one for him now.”_

_“You worry too much,” Thor insisted, throwing an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Parentage is not everything. On the field of battle any man can make a name for himself.”_

_“Fenrir will never be a warrior, Thor. It’s not in his nature,” Loki replied._

_“How can you think that, after the way he performed during our last hunt?”_

_“There’s a difference between hunting stags and killing men,” Loki said. Looking over at his brother he knew that he still hadn’t made his point clear. “Illegitimate sons can’t inherit titles. The best that Fenrir can attain in court is to become one of your advisors. Tomorrow we’re going to Svartalfheim. In the summer when we go to Vanaheim I’ll take him along as well. By the time Fenrir reaches manhood he’ll know the ways and laws of the nine realms better than anyone else in court.”_

_“If you want him to be an advisor so badly then when I’m king I’ll make him one,” Thor said, taking his arm away from Loki so he could stand in front of him._

_“No. I won’t have people saying that he was given his position for any reason other than his own worth. No one will ever be able to challenge his claim on this,” Loki said._

_“If you’re sure. I still say that Fenrir is too young to be forced to sit through diplomatic talks,” Thor said._

_“I won’t force him to sit through every discussion. I want him to begin to see how diplomacy runs between the realms but I don’t plan for him to be by my side the entire time. If he wants to go off and play then he can. There will be plenty of other visits in the future where he can truly learn.”_

_Thor clearly wasn’t convinced, but he simply shrugged his shoulders before turning to leave._

_“It’s your decision.” Thor said._

                                    A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

            A bird shrieked as if flew overhead waking Loki up. It took a moment of scanning the area around him before he remembered where he was. Svartalfheim. He sat for a little longer as he continued to wake up. It had been years since he’d had that dream, but it shouldn’t have surprised him that it had come back.  He slowly stood up brushing dust off his clothes, the sound of his son’s voice still echoing in his head.

Once he was sure his clothes were clean he began walking. At some point the night before he’d wandered into this field to sleep but now that he was awake he wanted to look over his handiwork. He had only been walking for a little while when he felt his foot hit against something solid. Loki smiled as he looked down at the staff.  He briefly considered taking it with him before kicking it to the side. There was no point in retrieving it, he thought as he continued his walk. He’d known when he’d given the designs to the dwarves that the staff would only be good for one battle. That much power could never be sustained for long and, after last night, the staff would never be anything more than a highly decorated stick.

As he reached his destination he couldn’t help but smile. He may have only been able to use the staff once but he didn’t regret his decision in the slightest. Stretching out before him was nothing but miles of dust and rock. Occasionally you could see the remains of what had once been buildings; some of which were still smoking. No, looking over the smoldering ruins where the capital city of Svartalfheim had stood only a few hours before, Loki knew that he’d made the right decision.

Looking around he was able to find a rock and went to go sit and admire his work. This wasn’t nearly enough to make up for what had happened but, for the moment, it made him feel better.

            “You certainly were thorough,” A voice said from behind him. “But then you always were one for grand gestures.”

             “Hello, Frigga,” Loki said, without bothering to turn around.

“Have you thought about what you’ll do now?” Frigga asked.

 “What are you doing here?” Loki asked as he turned to look at her.

“You didn’t think that your actions here would go unnoticed, did you?” Frigga took a few steps forward and, pushing the train of her dress to the side, sat down next to him. Loki looked over at her for a moment and shrugged. “I offered to come with a small team of soldiers and lend aid to the people of Svartalfheim.”

“And you did a remarkable job,” Loki said smiling and looking over the dead land in front of them.

“Heimdall was able to see that Svartalfheim was under attack but, as you may know, he was unable to see where the attack came from. I focused my efforts, and those of my men, on helping to lead the citizens of the city to safety.”

“You should have left them all to burn,” Loki said.

“The people of this city had no way of knowing what was being done to Fenrir. Most of them would have been horrified if they had. This place has already caused enough unnecessary suffering. I saw no reason to add to it.” Frigga replied.

“I suppose that I should be grateful that your mercy didn’t extend to the king and his council?” Loki snapped back.

“Tragically I was unable to find Auolies. Whoever was attacking the city not only cloaked himself, but the high council as well. Not even Heimdall could find them. His demise was a great loss but no one can say that I didn’t try,” Frigga said calmly. “I’ll ask you again. Now that you’ve had you revenge, what will you do?”

“Alfheim’s always beautiful this time of year,” Loki said.

“Loki,” Frigga began.

“Or maybe I’ll visit Jotunheim. It really is past time that I learned more about my home world. Perhaps I’ll even-”

“Loki, enough!” Frigga interrupted. “It’s time for you to go back. You’ve had your revenge, now go and be with your son.”

“That will be a bit difficult seeing as you’ve **given him** to Thor,” Loki snaps.

“Fenrir was given a choice-”

“Oh, I’ve heard. A choice between him or going back to the dungeons. You knew what his answer would be before you ever made your offer so don’t talk to me about choices.”

“I made the best decision that I could for him,” Frigga admitted.

“You banished him,” Loki said.

“I sent him away so that he would be safe. I wanted him to have a chance at a new life. On Midgard he’ll have that chance.”

“A new life? And what kind of a life do you intend for my him?” Frigga began to answer but Loki stopped her. “I know about the deal you made. After my trip to Midgard I took the time to learn the terms of the deal you made with my son. How could you do that and still claim to love him?”

“I did it **because** I loved him. Every day that Fenrir was on Asgard his position became more dangerous. I knew that I needed to get him far away from Odin as quickly as possible. There weren’t many places where he could go and be safe. Whatever you choose to believe about Thor I knew that he would protect Fenrir,” Frigga said.

“There were other ways,” Loki said, standing up from the rock and stepping away from Frigga.

“None that Odin would have agreed to. Anything else would have taken too long. It wasn’t what I wanted but it was the best that could be done.”

            “The best you could do was to surround him with my enemies? Do you have any idea what has been happening to him there? When I last saw him he could barely stand!”

            “Thor and his teammates weren’t the ones who hurt him,” Frigga said, smoothing her dress down before standing up. “I’ve been watching him as much as I can. You are right that they weren’t happy to have him there at first-”

“Obviously.” Frigga ignored Loki’s interruption and continued speaking.

“But things are changing for the better. He is beginning to be happy there. He **can** be happy there,” Frigga insisted, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. Loki stood quietly in front of her for a moment before speaking.

“They have no idea what it is that they really agreed to, do they?” Loki asked. Frigga took a moment before answering.

 “When I said goodbye to Fenrir, before he left Asgard, I told him that I believed he could find a place for himself on Midgard. He just had to be good, and remember to listen to Thor. The way that he looked at me then…he doesn’t know but I am sure that he suspects. As for Thor, no, Thor doesn’t know.

“How could he not figure it out?” Loki asked. “Odin was willing to see him locked away. Tortured for a lifetime; and all to keep him away from Asgard and Thor. Did he really think that Odin would just change his mind so easily? That he would just let him go off to Midgard and that would be the end?”

“Being banished from Asgard seemed like punishment enough to him. Between that and his magic being locked away, it made sense to him,” Frigga said.

“You’ve left my son in the care of an idiot,” Loki replied.

“All the more reason for you to go and look after him yourself,” Frigga said.

            “As generous as you may believe them to be, I don’t think the Avengers will take kindly to my coming to their home for visits,” Loki said.

            “You’re clever, you’ll figure something out,” Frigga said, simply. Loki glared at her but she ignored him and continued talking. “Fenrir loves Thor, and he trusts him, but Thor isn’t his father. He needs you, Loki. You’ve missed enough of your son’s life already. Now stop wasting time and go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, he's coming back.  
> Hey, you know how Svartalfheim looked in Thor 2? That's pretty much what the capital city looks like now.  
> So let me know what you thought of this chapter.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony makes some changes, and someone should really start monitoring what movies Clint shows Fenrir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy the chapter. Also I'm posting this in the middle of the night, so if you see anything that looks like it doesn't belong jsut let me know. Thanks. ;)

Tony knew that he was going to have to do something soon because Clint was completely obsessed. Or maybe it wasn’t actually an obsession but he was definitely showing more interest than the show deserved. So it was an unhealthy fixation at the least. This had Tony concerned because he was a good friend and teammate. Also because the idea of listening to Clint binge watch one more episode of Dog Cops made him want to blast his very expensive flat screen.

            Luckily for Tony, Clint was willing to turn off the show if he would agree to a video game rematch with him. Which wasn’t even a bed thing really. Especially since Clint didn’t know about the cheat codes he’d have Jarvis install. Frankly he couldn’t wait to see how Clint reacted when Mario flew by in an Iron Man suit and blasted his car off of the road.

            Tony claimed his spot on the couch and tried to purge his memory of all the dog puns he’d heard while trying to get Clint to turn off his show. He almost didn’t register that Bruce had entered the room until he started talking.  “What are you doing?” He asked, looking over to where Clint was kneeling in front of the television.

            “Setting up for Mario Kart. Grab a seat, you can be Toad,” Clint said, hooking the system up.

            “I’m actually heading over to-” It was at this point that Bruce looked over to where Tony was sitting on the couch and stopped speaking. “You’re glowing.”

            “Aww, thanks Brucie. Always nice to hear a compliment,” Tony said with a smile.

“Tony, why is your chest glowing?” Bruce demanded, stalking over to the couch to stare at his chest. Which, Tony was the first to admit, should probably have made him feel more uncomfortable than it did.

“It’s just the arc reactor. Nothing you haven’t seen before,” Tony reached out and pushed Bruce to the side slightly so he could watch what Clint was doing to his tv. It wasn’t that he didn’t think Clint could hook up a video game; but after a guy uses a multimillion dollar piece of equipment to, unsuccessfully, make kettle corn he loses some credibility.

“You had it removed,” Bruce said.

“And now I had it put back in,” Tony replied.

“You had it put back in??” Bruce asked, apparently still having adjusting to the idea. “But you don’t need it anymore. Do you? I thought you got all the shrapnel out.”

“No, still metal free. This beautiful baby is purely decorative,” Tony hoped that that would be the end of it but Bruce just kept staring at him. This had been much easier with Clint. Clint had just asked if he’d had the arc reactor put back in and then nodded and turned on Dog Cops.

“I might not need the reactor to keep myself alive anymore,” Tony began. “And I don’t need it to power the suits, but I’ve recently come to realize that it is necessary in my life. First of all, you have the toys. Before I had the reactor removed there were literally millions of Iron Man toys either on the market or in production. All of those toys have glowing chests. I can’t be responsible for shattering the realities of every child who buys a dishonest toy. That is just a level of cruelty, and potential lawsuits, that I won’t be a part of.

“Second, I’m trying to build a brand. This goes along with the toys, but I am identified by the tech and the reactor is something wholly unique. Also it makes a great nightlight.”

“You’re not serious?” Bruce asked.

“Okay, so it’s more of a flashlight, but when I get up in the night I never bump into anything,”

“That’s not what I-. Please tell me you didn’t just do this so you’ll still stand out over all the other people who have been trying to make suits.”

“It’s an added bonus,” Tony admitted. Bruce groaned and rubbed the side of his head with his hand while Clint laughed.

“Does Pepper know that you did this?” Bruce asked.

“Of course she knows,” Tony said. After all, short of wearing a parka to bed, there was no way he could have kept it from her for long.

“And she was alright with this?” Bruce asked.

             “Pepper accepts me for who I am,” Bruce stared at him unbelievingly. “I also might have bought her an island.”

            “An island?” Bruce and Clint asked at the same time. Clearly showing that they still didn’t understand how much money he actually had.

“Just a little one,” Tony said. He looked over his shoulder as the sight of Fenrir trying to cut through the room caught his eye.

“Hey,” Clint said, tossing a game controller at Fenrir. “Grab a seat. You can take Bruce’s slot.”

“Slot in what?” Fenrir asked, looking at the controller in confusion. Which, Tony thought, was a bit of a failure on Clint’s part. The guy had essentially claimed a day of the week for him and Fenrir to hang out and act like teenagers; and he hadn’t thought to introduce video games?

“It’s a game, you’ll like it.” Clint said.

“I can’t,” Fenrir said, holding the controller back out to Clint.

“Sure you can, it’s easy,” Clint insisted.

“No, I can’t I…” Fenrir mumbled, as he stared down at his feet.

“We’re busy,” Bruce said, taking a few steps over and putting a hand on Fenrir’s shoulder.

“You’re choosing Bruce over us? I won’t lie. That hurts.” Tony said.

“Both of you should stick around,” Clint tried again. “Come on, Fen. There’s even a rainbow bridge level. It’s fun.”

“I…we need to do some tests.” Fenrir finally admitted.

Oh right, Tony remembered, that. And, damn, did bringing up those tests make the room go quiet fast.

Fenrir shifted back and forth uncomfortably until Bruce herded him out the door. Clint finished hooking up the game and then came over and sat next to Tony. After about five minutes of him just sitting there and making no move to actually turn anything on Tony decided to get his attention and tossed his controller onto the other man’s lap.

Clint caught it but put it right down on the arm of the couch. “I forgot that Bruce was still doing that,” Clint said.

“Three times a week,” Tony said. Clint nodded and went back to sitting quietly on the couch. That in of itself was weird enough. Clint never just sat quietly outside of missions. Even then he would talk on the coms as much as he would be allowed. Adding to the bizarre behavior was the fact that Clint was suddenly bothered by what was going on with Fenrir and Bruce.

“Weren’t you the one who thought it was hilarious that Fenrir was going to be a lab rat?” Tony asked.

“Yeah,” Clint admitted. “It just doesn’t seem as funny as it used to.”

 

 -A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-

 

It was Thursday. Or as Clint had come to think of it, Movie Day. It was great. Clint honestly hadn’t realized how bad everyone else’s taste in movies had been until he’d started watching his favorites with Fenrir. The other Avengers were good teammates, and they had their merits, but not one of them saw K-9 for the masterpiece in filmmaking that it was. As for the movies that they had been recommending and trying to get him to watch, well, he couldn’t deny how satisfied he’d felt when the kid had fallen asleep during Citizen Kane.

As for today’s choice, he was thinking Wizard of Oz. It wasn’t one of his top favorites, but it was fun and it had flying monkeys. He had a feeling Fenrir would enjoy it. Not to mention that he could probably use some song and dance numbers after having spent the previous afternoon playing doctor with Bruce. And **wow** did that sound wrong when you thought about it like that.

Luckily Fenrir came in and was able to stop Clint’s train of thought before it just got weird. Clint looked over and saw Fenrir had gotten the rest of the food they were going to need for the movie. “Just put it all on the coffee table by the tacos.” Clint said over his shoulder as he continued digging through movies looking for Wizard.

Where was the movie? Clint was sure that he’d seen it here recently. He got up to go look in another cabinet for it and noticed that, in addition to the chips and popcorn that they usually included while watching movies, Fenrir had decided to grab a pint of ice cream.

Of course he brought ice cream. He always wanted ice cream lately. It was his favorite food, which annoyed Clint more than he wanted to admit. No because he didn’t respect the choice, which he did. But because he could have been the one to show Fenrir ice cream. Hell, he almost had been gotten him ice cream when they’d been at the carnival. He hadn’t though. He’d stopped himself because he’d thought it might seem like he was making fun of the whole Frost Giant thing.

But that didn’t bother **Captain America.** No he just goes and buys Fenrir some cheap ice cream in the park and suddenly he’s the wonderful, genius person who found the greatest thing ever. Clint could have done that.

He was about to go digging through another cabinet, in hopes of finding Wizard of Oz, when he had a much better idea.

“Hey, Fen, did you know that there are Captain America movies?” Clint asked.

“Like the one with Iron Man and Sean Bean?” Fenrir asked.

“Even better.” Clint said, smiling as he went to go sit by Fenrir on the couch. “The Iron Man movie was just _about_ Tony. But Steve actually starred in his.”

“I can’t picture that,” Fenrir said, smiling like he thought Clint was making a joke.

“Jarvis, Tony has all of Steve’s old propaganda film on file right?” Clint asked.

“Indeed, sir. And he has also recently acquired the discontinued _Captain America Storms the Beach._ ” Jarvis said.

Clint couldn’t stop smiling. This was going to be fun. The only question was where to start. They were all pretty ridiculous. Then again, he had been planning to show Fenrir a musical.

 “Let’s go with _Captain America on the Front_ , but first why don’t you pull up the recording of the stage show,” Clint said.

Jarvis dimmed the lights and turned on the tv. For a moment all that they saw was a black and white view of a stage but then a dozen chorus girls came dancing in.  Fenrir began shifting in his seat as he waited for something to happen. He seemed like he was about to ask Clint something but apparently forgot how to talk when Captain America, in all his show girl glory, came on stage.

 

                                    A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

 

One thing that Steve had begun to wonder was if Tony had actually bought Fenrir a bunch of designer track suits when he’d originally taken him shopping? Or had he just taken it upon himself to order a dozen more when Fenrir had started coming out with him in the mornings? Knowing Tony, both possibilities were pretty likely.

Not that it really mattered where Fenrir was getting his seemingly unending supply from. Although it was starting to make him wonder if maybe he shouldn’t try to find something nicer than a tee shirt to go out in. He’d even gone to the store and looked at a few things, but in the end he just couldn’t make himself buy something that he was just going to run and work out in.

Fenrir clearly didn’t have the same hang ups as Steve, judging by the Calvin Klein jogging suit that he’d chosen for the day. Apparently he’d finally gotten tired of gray, and decided to wear blue. It was probably a good change, Steve thought, as they began making their way through Central Park. Fenrir was so pale to begin with that he needed any extra color he could get. Not to mention that it made him look a little less somber and depressing.

The color change actually seemed like it might be having an effect on Fenrir. While Steve knew that Fenrir enjoyed running, he still usually looked serious from the moment they left the Tower until they returned. Today he was actually smiling and Steve was sure that he’d even heard him humming a few times. So, while it was sad that being happy was so out of the ordinary for him, Steve was just glad that he was getting to see him smile.

They had hit about the halfway point in their run when Steve heard Fenrir humming again. It made Steve smile to think that Fenrir was finally able to relax around him. That good feeling went away the second Steve realized that he recognized the song that Fenrir had been humming. He was sure it had to be a mistake. There was no way that Fenrir could know that song.

They ran for a few more minutes with Steve waiting anxiously to hear if Fenrir would start humming again. The moment Fenrir started again Steve was positive about what he was hearing. He’d listened to that song more than enough times to know it by heart.

_Who will redeem, heed the call for America.  Who’ll rise or fall, give his all for America. Who’s here to prove that we can? The star spangled man with a-_

“How do you know about that?” Steve said, jumping in front of Fenrir. Fenrir stopped quickly to avoid slamming into him and just looked at him confused. “How did you hear that song?”

“Oh, was I humming it again?” Fenrir asked. “Clint played some of your films for me the other day.”

Films. Fenrir had just said films. Meaning that they hadn’t stopped at just one. Oh God, Steve thought. This was bad. “How many did he show you?” Steve asked nervously.

“I think we watched all of them.” Fenrir said. “They were quite interesting. How come you never finished Captain America Storms the Beach?”

He even saw that one! Steve couldn’t believe this. It was too humiliating. It was bad enough that he’d ever made those movies, and God had they made a bunch of them before they actually let him fight, but the idea that people were still watching them! He needed to sit down.  

Steve walked over to a bench and slumped down.

“Was I not supposed to see them?” Fenrir asked, looking concerned as he came over to join Steve.

“They’re not exactly how I like to advertise myself,” Steve said.

 “I liked them. They were entertaining,” Fenrir said, smiling at him. Steve wasn’t quite sure whether or not Fenrir was being serious but decided he’d worry about it later.

 “Tony likes them too. He’s an especially big fan of the costume. He just loves to remind me about the tights,” Steve said, noticing Fenrir look away.

 “I didn’t see anything wrong with your outfit,” Fenrir said, still not making eye contact. Yep, he was definitely laughing at him.

“We should probably start running again if we want to get back before-” Steve stopped talking when Fenrir jumped up and rushed behind the bench. “What’s wrong?”

“Did you hear that?” Fenrir asked, scanning the patch of trees that were lining the path. “I thought I heard…”

“Dogs again?” Steve asked. Admittedly, since Fenrir had realized how many people walked their dogs in the park he’d been better at keeping things under control, but he still tried to stay away from the bigger groups.

“No, I… I feel like, like I’m being watched. Do you feel that?” Fenrir asked.

“We should probably head back to the Tower,” Steve said.

“Do you know what it is?” Fenrir asked.

“The way things have been going lately I’m guessing it’s a photographer. Either way we should probably hurry,” Steve said.

Since they took a cab the trip back to the Tower actually took longer than it usually did, but they were still home in less than twenty minutes. As they entered the lobby they found Pepper waiting for them.

“We were just about to call you two,” She said, leading them both to the elevators.

“What’s happened now?” Steve asked. Pepper quickly jabbed the button for the roof before she answered.

“The sky above the Tower keeps turning brown and sparking,” Pepper explained.

“Meaning?” Steve asked.

“According to Thor it means-” Pepper began.

“The Bifrost is about to open,” Fenrir interrupted.

“Apparently. We called Thor and he’s on his way back but he says he doesn’t know who’s coming through,” Pepper said.

“I have a guess,” Steve said, glancing over at Fenrir

“Tony and Bruce are already on the roof,” Pepper said, the eleveator finally reached the right floor and the quickly got off.  Looking up at the sky it was obvious to Steve that something was about to happen. He looked over his shoulder to look at Fenrir. Judging by his expression he didn’t seem to know if he was happy about the upcoming meeting or not. Which wasn’t too surprising considering how his last reunion had gone.

“You two should go back inside,” The look they both gave Steve when he spoke made it clear that neither of them was going anywhere. “At least stay back here until we’re sure who’s coming through.”

Steve walked across the roof to where Tony and Bruce were already waiting. Tony turned to speak but before he could say anything, a beam of light hit the edge of the roof. Someone had landed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder who that is? Can't wait to hear what you think of this one.


	31. Asgardians Giving Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post. I've gotten caught in NaNo fever. The good news is that I hit 15,000 words last night. Yay! The bad news is that I am supposed to be at 25,000 by now. Oh well. I'll try not to make you all wait so long for the next chapter.

“I must say that this is quite flattering. All of you here just to greet me. I am truly touched,” Fandral said, stepping across the roof as the Bifrost closed above him. “Although, now that I see you, I can’t help but wonder if you weren’t expecting someone else.”

            Everyone stood stunned for a moment. Tony, for one of the few time in his life, was at a loss for words. Honestly this had only happened to him maybe five times since he got past puberty. Right now he couldn’t come up with a single thing to say.

It wasn’t that they had been **sure** that it was going to be Loki coming down. There had been other options, but for the big reveal to be Fandral!?!

            “What are you doing here?” Bruce asked. Clearly just as thrown by the reveal as the rest of them were. 

            “I am here on a mission. My Queen has set me to a task and as a loyal servant to the royal family it is my duty to see it through. Now where is Thor?” Fandral asked.

            “He’s on his way,” Bruce said.

            “Any chance this is going to be like your last ‘solemn mission’ to visit your drinking buddy?” Tony asked.

            “I have been sent with a message for Thor and Fenrir. The Queen also wished for Thor to receive this,” Fandral explained, indicating a square chest at his feet. “However if Thor should decide to reward my efforts with a drink or two, then who am I to deny him?”

            Tony relaxed a little at Fandral’s answer. He was already remembering back to the last time Fandral had come to visit. The guy definitely knew how to have a good time. Which reminded Tony that he should have Pepper get their sexual harassment guy on standby again if he was going to be sticking around.

            Tony’s thoughts were interrupted when Thor slammed down on the roof a few feet away from him. “I was on a date with Jane, but I came as quickly as I… Fandral?” Thor said, his tone changing as he saw his friend.

            Clint snickered in the background at Thor’s choice of words. Every once in a while Tony had to take a moment to remind himself that Clint was actually a deadly assassin, and not a frat boy.

            “What are you doing here?” Thor asked Fandral.

            “I have a message for you and Fenrir from Asgard. Also your mother asked me to bring you a few things,” Fandral repeated, kicking lightly at the small chest at his feet.

            “Come,” Thor said, grabbing the chest for himself and gesturing for Fandral to follow him inside. The rest of the team followed behind them. As they all went inside they passed Fenrir who was still standing alongside the doorway.

            “Fenrir,” Fandral smiled when he saw him. “You’re looking much better than when I last saw you. I see that Midgard agrees with you.” Fenrir didn’t say anything and just watched as they all headed to the kitchen.

            “So what’s the message?” Steve asked, not wanting to waste time.

            “It is about Loki,” Fandral said, looking sadly at Fenrir.

            “Yeah, I don’t think that surprises anyone,” Clint said. “What’d he do?”

            “A few days ago he returned to Svartalfheim. It seems that he decided to take revenge on the people who had imprisoned his son,” Fandral began.

            “He killed Auolies?” Thor asked.

            “The entire high council,” Fandral corrected. “When that was done he unleashed some new weapon on the city itself. A small battalion from Asgard was sent to their aid, but by the time they arrived they weren’t able to do much besides lead civilians to safety.”

            “How much damage did my brother do?” Thor said, looking conflicted.

            “Most of the people of the city were able to escape unharmed. As for the city itself… there is nothing left of it,” Fandral said.

            “When you say that there’s nothing left you mean…?” Bruce asked, shifting uncomfortably as he took a chair.

            “I mean that he razed it to the ground,” Fandral said.

            That was a little unnerving. Tony knew that Loki was crazy, they all did, so him going for a crazy blood soaked revenge should have been a given. But the thought of burning an entire city to the point of ash was a lot of rage. Then again, who was Tony to criticize? Lord knows that he had basically fire bombed the people who had kidnapped and tortured him. And they had only kept him for a few weeks. So, when he thought about it like that, he was actually more surprised that Fenrir didn’t look more pleased at the news. That kid was a mystery though. Either way, the reminder that Loki was capable of that much fire power was definitely an uncomfortable thought. Whatever his motive.

            “Loki disappeared soon after his work on Svartalfheim was done. And it is believed that he will be coming to Midgard. That is why I was sent,” Fandral said, turning to look at Fenrir. “I have been asked to remind you of the terms of your release.”

            Fenrir looked over at Fandral uncomfortably for a moment before quickly nodding his understanding.

            “Speaking of deals,” Tony said, more than happy for an excuse to stop the silence before it became an awkward silence. “Is there any way that I, or more accurately my lawyers could get a written copy of the terms of Fenrir’s release.

            “Oh, yes, I was told that one of you wanted that,” Fandral reached into his cloak and pulled out a scroll. Tony wasn’t entirely sure where he had been keeping it, seeing as it looked like he’d pulled it out of the cape, but thought he’d be happier not asking.

            “Well, now that we’ve gotten these dreary formalities out fo the way,” Fandral said, and with a smile he pulled the lid off of the chest that Thor was still holding. Thor put the chest down on a table and looked inside happily. Thor plunged his hand inside and came out with a strip of red.

            “I’m glad to see this. I only had one left and it was beginning to look a bit ragged,” Thor explained to his friend.

            Tony and the rest of the group watched Thor in surprise. There was no way that he was holding what it looked like he was holding.

            “Thor, does your mom make your capes for you?” Clint finally asked.

            “Where did you think I have been getting them?” Thor said, simply as he took three more capes out of the box. Thor continued to pull things out of the chest and it was quickly becoming clear that this was a care package. While everyone watched as Thor dug into what looked suspiciously like a tin of cookies, Fandral grabbed a small stone jar from the chest and brought it over to Fenrir. Fandral opened the jar and showed him the contents.

            “Frigga said that you would know how to use this,” Fandral said, closing the jar and handing it over to the other man. Fenrir seemed about ready to speak, but then stopped himself and nodded. “She hopes to send more later. When time allows.”

            “This is all wonderful. You are a good friend to have brought all of this to me,” Thor said.

            “It was my pleasure,” Fandral replied.

            “I am sorry to cut our time short but I am afraid that I had been spending time with Jane when you arrived. I was forced to leave her rather abruptly. This has been happening all too frequently lately so it would be best if I returned to her now. If you can afford to stay, I would enjoy catching up when I return,” Thor said, not waiting for an answer before heading out to the roof.

            Fandral watched through the window as Thor took off and then made himself comfortable in the kitchen.

            “I guess that means you’re staying?” Pepper asked.

            Fandral smiled over at her. “With such lovely enticements here on Midgard I don’t see how I could ever dream of leaving.” Pepper glared at him and he straightened up a little in his seat. “I was thinking of staying for a few days. I haven’t seen Thor since his visit to Asgard, not to mention that you all might need the assistance should Loki arrive.”

            Pepper looked over at him annoyed, but left the room without saying anything.

            Personally Tony was glad that Fandral was going to be sticking around for a while. For all the annoyance that Fandral might have caused to his legal department, Fandral was a blast to be around. The last time that he had come to visit Thor had been one for the books.

            Since Fandral was unfamiliar with modern day Earth traditions, Tony and Thor had decided to introduce him to a Pub Crawl. Tony had made it through three bars with the two Party Gods before passing out. He’d woken up on the roof of a bank with a tattoo on his stomach that said “Iron Man was here!!!” A few expensive laser appointments later and it was still one of Tony’s favorite not-memories.

            As for Thor and Fandral, after abandoning Tony they had continued to just about every bar in New York City. Then they’d dissiapeared for a few days before showing up at the border to Tijuana. FAndral had at least two dozen phone numbers in his pockets and Thor had five or six of what looked like poisonous snake bites on his legs. So all in all it had been a pretty exciting visit. And Tony couldn’t wait to see how this one went.

             

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

             

            Fenrir hurried down the hallway to his room, all the while fighting against the urge to run. He felt like someone was chasing him and, even though he knew that they weren’t , he felt relieved when he got to his room and was able to shut the door behind him. He stood resting with his back on the door for a few moments before he was able to move. Even when he stepped away he couldn’t help eyeing the door like it was about to burst open again.

            “It’s fine,” Fenrir whispered, trying to reason with himself. “He didn’t come her to bring you back. You’re safe here. They won’t just let someone take you away.”

            He looked down at the stone jar he was still clutching. He considered beginning its use now, but decided against it. He was so nervous he might use it incorrectly and then end up wasting more of it than he could afford. He walked over to a dresser and put the jar into a drawer. He would start using it later in the night when he was calmer.

            Fenrir couldn’t believe how he was acting. This was disgusting. The worst part of it all was that for a while he’d actually thought that he’d been getting braver. He had been able to talk and socialize with the other Avengers. He had even been able to begin going running in the mornings with the Captain. Now he realized that all of it meant nothing. Not if all that it took was one look at the Bifrost opening up to remind him of what a coward he truly was.

            It wasn’t as though it had been one of the Einherjar who had come through looking for him. This was Fandral. A man who’d used to give him toys and candy when he’d been small. Who had been one of the few people to genuinely welcome his presence back on Asgard. Fandral had even tried to protect him when they’d both been attacked by guards.

            Yet just a few minutes in a room with someone from Asgard and Fenrir had been running off to hide. He truly was as pathetic a creature as they’d always told him he was.

            Fenrir looked over at the door and tried to force himself to go back out. He knew that he should leave and rejoin everyone still in the kitchen, but he couldn’t. More than anything else he just wanted to stay in his room. Maybe even crawl under his bed just to be sure that anyone who came looking for him wouldn’t have to easy a time. But he’d sworn to himself that he would never do that again after Thor had almost caught him once.            

            A part of him couldn’t help but wonder if it would really be so bad for him to just stay where he was until Fandral left. Everyone in the Tower kept on telling him that he could do whatever he pleases. Why couldn’t he simply choose to stay put? Would it be such a bad thing? He started to sit down on his bed but stood up again. That wasn’t going to work either.

            Fenrir didn’t know what he should do. The one thing that he did know was that he couldn’t just hide. Whatever else he might be, he was an Asgardian. Asgardians don’t give in to fear. So, summoning what little courage he had, Fenrir made his way over to the door.

            Between the fear of rejoining everyone and the shame at his own cowardice, Fenrir came very close to spending his day leaning into a wall. He was finally able to make a decision by compromising. He would go out of his room but to a more isolated area of the Tower.

                        After wandering the halls for a while he was able to find a room that looked like it wasn’t being used for much. All it seemed to have in it was an uncomfortable looking gray couch looking out through some windows. Looking around to make sure that there was no one coming Fenrir went in and went to sit down. He quickly realized that the room must not be as disused as he thought because someone had left a laptop sitting in the center of the couch. Fenrir wondered who it might belong to and, before he could talk himself out of it, indulged his curiosity and looked at what was on the screen.

            Fenrir looked at the screen in confusion for a moment as he tried to figure out what it was he was looking at. Once he figured it out he dropped down to the couch in shock. It was at that point that Clint came into the room.

            Clint starred at Fenrir for a moment. “How much of that did you see?” He asked, when he realized what Fenrir had found.

            “It’s been you?” Fenrir asked. “All of the fake Iron Men?”

            “Not all of them. The first ones were genuine. Then, well, I needed something to do while Nat was away.” Clint explained.

            “But how?” Fenrir asked.

            “A few months ago I found this website,” Clint explained, indicating the page that Fenrir had found on the laptop. “The whole idea is for people to come on and suggest ideas for villain names, powers, basically overall concepts. The sight is mostly used by fanfic writers or D&D fanatics. But every once in a while some B list villain wannabe would use the site for ideas.

            “So after I found out what the site was I entered a few names. Just as a joke. But then one of them was chosen. It was before you came here. This loser called himself the Crimson Snowshoe. So after I found out that it could actually work I thought it would be funny to see if I could really get people to take the names that I was putting up. And then Tony was getting so freaked out by the Iron Man copycats that it just made sense to keep contributing.”

            “How often do you add names to these lists?” Fenrir asked.

            “Well not all of them are going to be picked. So I try to enter about ten a day to improve my odds,” Clint said.

            “That is… I can’t believe you would… can I help?” Fenrir asked.

 

                                                -A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-

           

            The view through the windows wasn’t the best but at least it allowed Loki to see what was going on with his son without having to use magic. He was positive that there would be other sorcerers looking for him so the less he used his magic the more easily he could stay out of sight. And he was going to need every advantage he could get. From what he had seen today, things were going to be more difficult than he’d thought.

            So far it didn’t seem like Fenrir ever left the Tower without one of the Avengers by his side. So there was no way that he would be able to contact his son without going in himself. The appearance of Fandral was another complication. Thor might be oblivious but Fandral, for all the nonsense in his personal life, was smarter than he let on. He also was more familiar with the signs of Loki’s magic than most.

            The most disturbing thing that Loki had noticed since he’d begun his observations was that Fenrir seemed to have formed a bond with the archer. Certainly Fenrir deserved to have friends, but for him to have chosen Barton! The man was fine for a soldier but Fenrir could do better if he was looking for a companion.

            Loki knew that this was his own fault. If he had been able to convince his son to leave with him when he’d come back the first time then he never would have had a chance to bond with any of the Avengers. Now, now everything was going to be more difficult.

            Loki didn’t like not having a plan, but for the moment he was just going to have to wait. Watch and wait for an opportunity. For a moment to contact his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so happy to see that people are still reading this story 30 chapters in! This story has morphed into something much bigger than what I originally planned for it. All in all I think that the change has been for the best and I hope all of you think so too.   
> I love hearing what everyone thinks of my story and what is going on with Fenrir. So read, review and I'll see you next chapter.


	32. Breakfast Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the pathetically long delay. There isn't really an excuse beyond having trouble writing.

Chapter 31

 

            All that Steve had wanted was to have a meal with his teammates. To be able to come down to the kitchen with his friends, eat, and hopefully talk about something other than who had most recently tried to kill them. One day a week should not have been so difficult. They’d picked a day. All that any of them had to do was show up. They had even come up with a rotation for who would be in charge of food on those days so that there could be less conflict. It was supposed to be easy. Then again, nothing in their lives was ever easy so why shouldn’t breakfast be added to the list?           

“I’m thinking he’s not coming down,” Clint said, head resting on his fist as he slumped over the kitchen table. 

“It’s not that late. I’m sure that he just went out to get Burger King or something,” Steve said. Although in truth he was starting to think that Thor might have forgotten that it was his day to make everyone breakfast.

“Should we seek our meal elsewhere?” Fandral asked Fenrir.

“No,” Steve insisted. “I’m sure that he’ll be down any minute now.”

            “Hey, Jarvis. Is Thor even awake yet?” Clint asked, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. As if Steve hadn’t asked Jarvis the same thing almost a half an hour before.

            “He is awake, but I do not believe that you will be leaving his room anytime soon,” Jarvis replied.

            “Why not?” Bruce asked.

            “If you will recall, I have been programed not to inform on what any of you do when in your private quarters unless I feel that you are in distress,” Jarvis answered.

            “I woke up for this?” Tony muttered, getting up from the table and heading out of the room.

            “Tony,” Steve began, getting up to try and stop him from leaving.

Deep down Steve knew that it really wasn’t that important that they eat breakfast together. He knew it but, when your day to day activities included fighting monsters and dealing with aliens, he needed to grab onto what little bits of normalcy he could find to keep himself sane. Lately the only things that had still made the cut were going for jogs in the park and meals with his teammates. So he was not going to let breakfast go without a fight.

            “I’ll be in the lab. If I’m going to be up at dawn then I’m at least going to get some work done,” Tony said.

            “It’s almost ten,” Bruce said, more to himself than anyone else in the room.

            Steve watched as Tony made his way down the hall and to the elevator. As much as he might have wanted to make breakfast happen, he couldn’t really blame the other man for not wanting to wait any longer. Tony **had** already been waiting for twenty minutes. Which, Tony being perpetually late for anything that didn’t involve explosions or Pepper, meant that the rest of them had been waiting for close to an hour. Now with Tony gone, and still no sign of Thor, Steve had a feeling that they were going to have to give it up.

            He turned around and saw that at some point while he had been going after Tony, Bruce had grabbed a carton of yogurt from the fridge.

            “You too, Bruce?” Steve asked.

            “I’m sorry, Steve, but you really don’t want me to let the other guy get too hungry,” Bruce replied.

            “Fair enough. I guess we’re on our own then,” Steve finally admitted.

            “Finally,” Clint said, jumping up and all but lunging for the fridge.

            Steve felt an arm set down on his shoulder. He turned and saw that Fandral had gotten up to come and stand next to him.

            “I am sorry that your plans for our meal were unsuccessful. Perhaps we could try something similar for the evening meal?” Fandral said.

            “Maybe. If Thor ever comes out of his room,” Steve added.

            “I’ll go see if I can rouse him.” Fandral said, heading out of the kitchen. “Oh, Fenrir, would you like to come?” Fandral asked, turning from the hallway. Fenrir looked around the kitchen for a moment before answering.

            “I think I’ll stay here,” Fenrir said.

            “Very well,” Fandral said, as he left.

            “Well, if Thor’s not bringing food I guess we should figure out something else to eat,” Steve offered.

            “I am way ahead of you,” Clint said, coming away from the fridge with what looked suspiciously like a pie.

            “You are not actually going to eat cherry pie for breakfast, are you?” Steve asked.

            “I was planning to,” Clint said, dropping the pie on the table and grabbing a fork.

            “You going to get a plate for that, Clint?” Bruce asked, looking amused.

            “I considered it, but then I decided that that would really just slow me down,” Clint said with a smile.

            “You can’t just eat an entire pie, Clint,” Bruce said. “Even your body can’t stand that much junk food.”

            “I disagree, but you do have a point,” Clint said. Steve thought that that meant that Clint would put the pie away and go make himself eggs. Three years in the Avengers and he still knew so little about his teammates.

            “Fenrir, grab a fork. You can have half,” Clint said, digging into his ‘breakfast’.

            “No, Fenrir, don’t do that,” Steve said, when he saw that Fenrir was actually getting up from the table to do what Clint said.

            “But...” Fenrir started, looking lost. “I’m hungry and Thor’s not coming, so-”

“I’ll make you some pancakes then, just don’t eat that,” Steve said. Fenrir sat back down at the table and smiled.

“How come I don’t get pancakes?” Clint asked, around a mouthful of pie.

“You’re already beyond hope,” Steve said, grabbing eggs and milk from the fridge.

“Pie is always wonderful. You’re just jealous that I didn’t offer you any,” Clint said.

Steve didn’t even bother arguing. There was no point and his mind was already occupied trying to remember what it was that his mom had always used when she made pancakes. It was probably cinnamon, or nutmeg? Had he ever seen nutmeg in his kitchen growing up?

The end result was definitely not his moms’ pancakes. They looked alright, but Steve knew by the smell that he still didn’t have it quite right yet. He figured that if he covered them with fruit then they would still taste good enough. At least Fenrir wasn’t as picky as some of the others in the Tower when it came to food.

The look that Clint gave the plate when Steve handed it over to Fenrir was enough to make him roll his eyes. Yes, Clint, some people do eat fruit in the morning instead of just dessert.

“I have good news,” Fandral said, reentering the kitchen. “I have alerted Thor and he is on his way.” Fandral looked down and saw Clint and Fenrir’s breakfast. “Oh, so you did find food. I suppose I didn’t need to interrupt Thor after all.”

“So was he still asleep after all or was he just in there polishing his hammer?” Clint asked. Clint’s eyes widened at the deep sound of a voice clearing behind him. Everyone looked up to see Jane and Thor standing in the doorway.

“Jane, when did you get here?” Bruce asked.

“Thor brought me back last night. Sorry about missing breakfast we… were sleeping in,” Jane said.

Steve looked over and saw that Fenrir was suddenly very focused on eating his pancakes. It didn’t take much to figure out what was making him uncomfortable. Given his relationship with Thor, this had to be like hearing that your parents had been up all night having sex. Steve was going to take pity on him and try to get his mind off of things. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who had noticed how Fenrir was reacting.

“You know it’s funny,” Clint began, “We actually asked Jarvis a few times to check in on Thor and he always said that he was awake. He just couldn’t come down.” Jane blushed and Clint took that as his cue to continue. “I guess the two of you were just too busy to come join us.”

Clint smiled over at Fenrir who was beginning to look like he might bolt out of the room at any second. Clint reached out and grabbed a strawberry off of Fenrir’s plate. Judging by the look that Fenrir flashed Clint, he knew exactly what the other man was doing. Steve spared a glance to Thor who seemed to be oblivious to what was going on at the table.

“I apologize for my absence this morning. If you will allow I would be happy to make it up to everyone this evening,” Thor offered, as he walked over to the cupboard where he stored his pop tarts. He reached in and grabbed a box while Steve replied.

“That sounds fine. I don’t think anyone has any plans tonight.”

“Although,” Fandral added. “I do think that Stark had hoped that we would all go into the city tonight.” He looked over to Thor who was looking disappointedly at an empty box of pop tarts before reaching for another one. “However I am sure that it can wait until after we have eaten.”

“Yes, yes,” Thor said, surprised to find that the second box he had pulled out was also empty. Thor reached into the cupboard and pulled out a third box but once again it was empty.

Clint started to laugh but was quickly cut off by a glare from Thor. Thor dug through his cabinet to grab the next box and all but ripped it in half when he opened it. There wasn’t anything inside that one either. By now the entire room was watching as Thor continued opening boxes and finding them empty. By the time he reached the final box the entire room was silent. Thor opened the last box, looked inside and tipped the box over. One arrowhead fell out of the box and into his palm. Thor spun around to glare at Clint.

“It wasn’t me,” Clint said, tensing his legs and getting ready to evade an attack if necessary. Thor didn’t look too convinced by his denial but did nothing but glare at the other man before leaving the room.

Fandral came over to stand beside Steve at the kitchen counter and smirked. “You all certainly know how to keep a meal interesting.”

 

                        A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

 

Clint didn’t really think that Fandral was the kind of guy who would want to spend the afternoon sitting and watching a movie. If he had to be doing anything indoors then Clint thought that videogames would be more his style. But when Thor had told Fandral about how Clint and Fenrir would be spending their afternoon he had insisted that he wanted to try it.

So now Clint was sitting in front of the tv trying to figure out what kind of movie the guy would like. He still didn’t think that Fandral was going to be a big fan, but if he was going to be picking the first movie that the man ever saw then he wasn’t going to mess it up. He was representing the entire earth here, and he was not going to let it down.

“Oh, my God! I love it,” Darcy said, hurrying over to where Fenrir was sitting on the couch and petting his hair. “Jane told me that they gave you a makeover but I was just picturing new clothes. I kept telling her to send me pictures but she always said no.” Darcy took a few steps away from Fenrir, pulled out her phone and aimed it at him. “Smile cutie.”

Clint watched Darcy take a few photos of Fenrir. Fenrir gave Clint a brief ‘help me’ look, but had to drop it when Darcy told him to smile again.

“Thor didn’t say he brought you back too,” Clint said, torn between laughing at how terrified someone like Darcy was making Fenrir, or going to rescue him. It was a tough decision. It was going to require a lot of thought and work before any action was taken.

“He didn’t. Once again I was left in New Mexico while Jane got to fly away to someplace more interesting,” Darcy explained. “It’s hard enough listening to Eric talk physics when Jane’s around but when she’s not he keeps trying to explain things to me. Do you have any idea how boring that is?” Darcy stopped talking long enough to take a breath and sat down on the couch next to Fenrir. “Anyway, I decided that Jane shouldn’t get to have all the fun, so I bought a plane ticket and came up here to join her.”

“You got here fast,” Clint said.

“You show someone a credit card with the name Stark on it and things happen quickly,” Darcy replied.

“How did you get one,” Clint asked. Sure he had one, but if too many people started using them then even Tony would start to wonder where the money was going. Then again, the rumor going around the Tower was that he’d recently bought Pepper an island. So maybe he wouldn’t.

“Tony sent one to Jane after your guest smashed half of our kitchen. He told Jane that she could keep it in case she needed new equipment. Then she just put it in a drawer. So unsafe. Anyone could just come in and take it,” Darcy looked around for a second and seemed to remember something. “Where is Jane, anyway? I was wandering around here for like ten minutes before I even found you guys.”

“Why didn’t you just ask Jarvis?” Clint asked.

            “That seemed like too much work,” Darcy said, tucking her legs under her on the couch and getting comfortable.

“Jane and Thor went shopping. They’re making everyone dinner tonight,” Clint explained.

 “You’re going to let Jane and Thor cook? Get ready to order pizza,” Darcy said.

“Darcy?” Fandral said, as he came back from the snack run Clint had sent him on. “I was not aware that you were here. This is a very welcome surprise.”

“You’re back?” Darcy asked with a smirk. “Hope Pepper has her lawyers on speed dial.”

“She always does,” Clint replied.

“Will you be joining us? Clint is preparing entertainments,” Fandral said.

“Oh, yeah, Jane told me that you guys do movie days. Did she really make you watch a bunch of chick flicks?”

“I… don’t know what that is,” Fenrir said.

“I’m not surprised that Fenrir has taken to this amusement,” Fandral said, as he looked over a stack of DVD’s that Clint had set aside. “Considering how much you always liked going to performances when you were young.” Fandral smiled as he turned back to Fenrir.

“What kinds of performances do you have on Asgard? Is it like opera’s or just battle reenactments?” Darcy asked.

“We have both of those. Or something similar, as far as I have seen of what you offer here. Much of it I would not know how to explain, as you don’t have much to compare it to. But what Fenrir always liked best were the escapades. As I understand it they are quite similar to your plays. Of course, in all fairness, many of them do contain reenactments of battles,” Fandral explained. He walked across the room and chose an armchair that was facing Darcy before sitting down.

“I cannot picture anyone from Asgard sitting down and watching a play,” Darcy said.

“We can and often do. Personally I love a chance to enjoy a taste of culture. A man cannot spend his entire life fighting,” Fandral said, leaning forward with a smile that was just for Darcy.

Darcy didn’t even try to repress her snort at the last statement. Reminding Clint why he and Darcy had always gotten along. “Still not seeing it,” She repeated, before eyeing Fenrir for a moment. “I guess I can see you going to plays though.”

“You would be correct in that. Fenrir always loved the escapades. Any time a new performance would come through the city Fenrir was always sure to be the first one in the audience. Often all it took was a rumor that a group were coming and he would be watching the roads for their approach,” Fandral said.”

“That is so cute!” Darcy said.

“He exaggerates,” Fenrir said, shifting in his seat.

“Hardly,” Fandral insisted. “I don’t think there was ever a time when you weren’t begging your father to take you to see the entertainments again and again. And if he couldn’t then you would go to Thor or Frigga. Then if no better options presented itself you would even have me accompany you.”

“This is officially my new favorite thing about you,” Darcy said. “So what other stories do you have about little Fenrir?”

            Fandral dived into some story about Fenrir following his dad and the warriors on some hunt, and Clint finally decided that it was time to show Fenrir some mercy.

            “Come help me pick what movie we should watch,” Clint said. Then; well Fenrir didn’t so much leave the couch as much as instantly appear at Clint’s side. “You want to pick the movie?” He offered.

            Fenrir actually smiled at that. And people said that Clint wasn’t a nice guy. “I can choose? Any one I want?”

            “Sure. Just as long as it’s not the same one you’ve been watching,” Clint added quickly.

“I don’t know which movie you-” Fenrir started but Clint stopped him.

“You know which one I mean, and you’ve watched it enough.”

“I haven’t watched it that many times,” Fenrir insisted.

“Not counting all the times you’ve asked me to watch it with you. Do I need to ask Jarvis how many times has you’ve come in here to watch the movie without me?” Clint asked.

“I just, I like that movie,” Fenrir said looking through a stack of BluRays that Clint had already rejected.

“You like part of that movie,” Clint added. Fenrir shifted some of the movies around and starred at the floor. “Pick something else.” Clint said, before adding. “Pick something and we can watch the other one again later.” The promise did exactly what Clint knew it would and Fenrir soon had something picked out. Sometimes Clint still couldn’t believe how easy it was to make that guy happy.

           

 

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

 

One think was becoming increasingly clear to Tony, and that was that young Fenrir had been a total brat. According to the stories that Fandral was telling, the kid had apparently spent the majority of his childhood finding ways to use his magic to drive his family up the walls. Naturally this was only improving Tony’s opinion of him.

“The next thing we know Fenrir is riding off on his father’s horse and taking nearly all of our supplies with him,” Fandral said, laughing at the memory.

“In his defense,” Thor added, putting an arm roughly around his nephew. “We did tell him to go back home.”

“Weren’t you still in the middle of enemy territory at that point?” Jane asked.

Fandral and Thor looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Because yes, yes they had been surrounded by their enemies. They had almost died but apparently, when you’re a magical space Viking, that’s just the way things go sometimes.

Between the stories, and the new pizza place that Thor and Jane had gotten their dinner from, this was definitely making Tony thankful that he’d agreed to stay at the Tower for the night. He’d initially been disappointed about putting off the pub crawl, but there was more than enough time for that. If he was going to be getting embarrassing stories about Thor, and even better Loki, then he could delay going out for one night.

Things only got better when he heard Fandral ask, “So who wants to hear the story of Loki and the horse?” It was like Christmas! It was like Christmas but with the promise of horse porn. Not something he’d ever thought that he would want before, but times change.

 “I do, I do,” Tony said, raising his hand like he was in school.

“You have no idea how happy it would make me to hear that story,” Clint added.

“What happened with the horse?” Darcy asked, looking confused. She had no idea the treat that she was in for. Thor could glare all he wanted but Tony was finally going to get the good stories.

“It didn’t happen,” Fenrir insisted from across the room. Tony barely heard him. Between the noise of all the Avengers and guests in the same room and the fact that Fenrir had purposely sat far away from the group to be beyond arms reach of Darcy, his voice could hardly be expected to carry. Add to that the fact that Tony was ignoring him and his arguments were barely audible.

“It might not be the truth,” Fandral admitted. “But I have always been partial to my version of the story.”

“Honesty is overrated,” Clint said. “Tell the story.”

“Well it all began when-” Fandral said.

“Clint!” Bruce interrupted walking into the kitchen.

“Hey, Doctor Rage, You got back just in time for the bedtime story of the century. Pull up a chair,” Tony said.

“Clint,” Bruce began again, staring past Tony and Fandral to look at the archer. “Tony gave you your own laptop. So don’t use mine. I’m having to have Jarvis go in and fix it now and I could have lost some important files.”

“What happened to your laptop?” Steve asked.

“It caught a virus; several actually,” Bruce answered, still looking angrily at Clint.

Tony knew that he should probably step in. Offer to buy Bruce a new laptop or something. Bruce was getting better and better at being able to be annoyed or angry at his teammates without slipping into the Green Zone. That being said, it was always better when the man was calm. Then again, Tony also knew about the projects that Bruce was working on and, if they had been lost or damaged because the files had been corrupted, the work could be set back by months. So he figured it wouldn’t hurt to let Bruce yell at Clint for a little bit.

“I never took your laptop,” Clint said.

“You could at least be an adult and admit it,” Bruce said.

“I didn’t take it. What makes you so sure it was me?” Clint asked.

“Aside from the fact that the screen was frozen on a monster truck video?” Bruce asked dryly. “The keys had smears of cherry pie filling on them.”

“That doesn’t…” Clint stammered. “I’m not the only one here who eats pie. I didn’t do it.”

“Just like you didn’t switch all the music in my lab to classical?” Tony decided to add. He knew that he really shouldn’t be adding to the argument, potential of Hulk and everything but, damn it, the pranks go too far when you replace Metallica with Mozart.

“God,” Steve said, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head toward the ceiling. “Natasha cannot come back soon enough.”

“I’m being set up,” Clint insisted.

“So, Darcy, did Eric have any messages for me before you left?” Jane interrupted. The woman had about as much subtlety as Thor, but at least she meant well.

“Nope. When I left all of the machines were flashing and pinging like they always do. Nothing new,” Darcy said, reaching across the table and pulling a box of meat lovers pizza away from where Thor had been hogging it. It had initially looked like he would have at least shared with Fandral, but when the other Asgardian had opted for Hawaiian Thor had taken all his favorite pizza’s and had been hoarding them at his side of the table.  A tug of war immediately began over the box and Tony noticed Clint taking advantage of the distraction to leave.

 

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

           

            Clint wasn’t running. He was simply making a strategic exit. It he was moving quickly then that was just a coincidence and nothing to do with wanting to put distance between him and Bruce. And Tony. And Thor. And whoever else might be annoyed at him for pranking them. This was not a new thing in the Tower, and he usually didn’t care if one of his teammates was annoyed with him for a day or two. It wasn’t like they didn’t always forgive him. The difference now was that he wasn’t actually playing any of these pranks. He hadn’t even been into Tony’s lab in over a week and wasn’t sure that he could have changed his music if he’d wanted to. Jarvis would have inevitably just changed it back.

            Someone else was moving in on his territory and, if the arrowhead and pie crumbs meant anything, someone was making it look like it was him. So who was it?

            The list of people who could even get access to their private floors was small. Happy and Pepper could get in if they wanted but neither were the type to do something like this. Obviously no one from S.H.I.E.L.D could get in without alerting Jarvis, and even then this wasn’t the type of thing that agents, other than him, would waste their time on. Fandral would never dare to take food away from Thor, so the Pop Tart incident ruled him out, and since she hadn’t gotten to the Tower until the afternoon it also ruled out Darcy.

            That meant that it had to be one of the Avengers. Bruce would never risk science by willingly putting a virus on his computer so he was out. Thor’s anger at the loss of his favorite breakfast had seemed genuine enough that he was probably out of the running too. So that just left Tony and Steve.

             Clint continued the walk to his room and considered which one of them could be setting him up. By the time he had reached his rooms he still didn’t have an answer. This type of thing wasn’t either of their style. So who was setting him up?

            Clint opened the door and took a few steps into his room when his eyes landed on something that definitely hadn’t been there when he left. Sitting on the floor was a small can with a note attached. Clint slowly walked over to get a better look and almost laughed out loud when he saw what it actually was.

            _Mixed Nuts_ was written on the side of the can, and the note just said _To Clint_. He couldn’t believe it. Someone was actually trying to pull the mixed nuts trick on him? He hadn’t seen anyone fall for that since he’d been in elementary school. This was just… Clint felt like an idiot for not having figured it out right away. It was Fenrir. All of these tricks had to be Fenrir.

            They way that he’d enjoyed helping Clint play tricks on Steve and Tony should have clued him in. The real surprise was that Fenrir would do something like this by himself. The guy still seemed afraid of his shadow half of the time and now he was trying something like this?

            Clint would have like it better if Fenrir hadn’t made him his scapegoat, but the more he thought about it the more harmless the whole thing seemed. Fenrir could use some fun and Clint was even a little proud that he had brought this side of Fenrir out again. Fandral’s stories at dinner had made it pretty clear that he’d loved jokes a lot when he was a kid.

Clint picked up the can of nuts and smiled. They probably didn’t have this type of thing on Asgard, so it had probably seemed hilarious and original when Fenrir had heard of it. However that had been. Deciding that Fenrir had earned a victory he twisted the cap off and waited for the snakes to pop out. It was at this point that the can exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm dying to know if anyone's still reading this. Leave reviews and I promise never to leave for months at a time again.


	33. Reunions: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are going to see a reunion in this chapter, but probably not the one anyone expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Memorial day, everyone.  
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 32

 

            What just happened? Clint wondered as he stood stunned, holding the remains of the can of nuts in his hand. His ears were ringing and everything he looked at seemed green. It took a minute for his head to clear enough to realize that it wasn’t his vision that was green. A quick scan of his room confirmed that almost every exposed surface was now covered in green paint. Looking down he saw that the pieces of the can in his hand still dripped with the stuff.     

            Instantly any possibility of this being a prank from Fenrir was erased. No, Fenrir might have liked jokes but he wouldn’t do something like this. This was too aggressive. There was only one person who could be responsible for destroying almost everything that he owned!

            “Mister Barton, I have alerted the team to your situation. Are you in need of any medical attention?” Jarvis asked.

            “He’s back,” Clint said to himself, gripping the shards of the can more tightly.

            Clint didn’t even bother to turn when he heard his door slam open behind him. “Clint, are you okay? We heard the bang and then Jarvis told us that there was an explo-” Steve stopped mid word as he slid to a stop on the wet carpet. “Is this paint? Oh God Clint, what did you do?”

            “Are we under attack?” Tony said, half flying into the room in his armor, Thor just a few feet behind him. They both stopped when they had a chance to see what the room looked like.

            “So you finally decided to redecorate? You know, if you wanted a change so badly I could have had some decorators brought in,” Tony said.

            “This was done intentionally?” Thor asked, pushing his cape slightly to the side so it wouldn’t brush against the wall.

            “No, I didn’t do this intentionally! It exploded!” Clint said, holding up the remains of the can. “I opened it and it exploded.”

             “It looks like one of Clint’s pranks backfired on him,” Steve explained.

            “So it was an accident,” Thor said, looking amused. “You should be more careful in the future.”

             “You think that I did this?” Clint asked. “I didn’t do this. Do you think that I wanted everything that I owned to be covered in paint?” Clint demanded. He knew there was no way that they could think he was that stupid.

            “I am sure that this was not your desired outcome,” Thor said.

            Clint wanted to hit Thor. He knew that he’d probably break his hand against Thor’s head but he didn’t care. For that split second before the pain set in it would feel good.

             “I’m not the one who did this. I haven’t been doing any of the things that have been happening lately,” Clint insisted, as he tossed the pieces of the paint bomb to the side. “It was him. He’s back and he is setting me up.”

            “Who are you talking about?” Steve asked.

            “I’m talking about his psychotic baby brother,” Clint said, glaring at Thor. “I came into the room and found the can. At first I thought it must have been Fenrir, because who else would think that the Mixed Nuts trick would work. But then I opened it and it exploded. I don’t mean that paint just shot out. I mean an actual explosion in my room.”

            “Clint, calm down,” Steve said, holding out a hand in front of Clint.

             “I’m not calming down! That nut job left a bomb in my room!” Clint said.

            “If Loki were on Midgard then we would have heard from him before now,” Thor said.

            “Besides, Clint, I don’t think that Loki would go to the trouble of breaking into the Tower just to make a mess in your room,” Steve said.

            “Of course he would,” Fandral said, stepping through the doorway and eyeing the room up and down. “This is exactly the type of thing he always found hilarious. Truth be told he’s been toying with you all since I arrived here. Most likely since before I was here as well.”

            “You’ve seen him?” Tony asked.

            “Of course not but, believe me, I grew up with Loki. I know his work. This is admittedly a little more childish than what he would normally attempt but, since he was trying to deflect blame, that makes sense,” Fandral said. Everyone else in the room turned to Thor for conformation.

            “I suppose that this could have been done by Loki. But why would he be spending his time playing games like _this_ when Fenrir is here?” Thor asked.

            “I imagine that he was waiting for the right moment to approach his son and all of this has just been to amuse himself while he waits.” Fandral said.

            “How long have you known that Loki was the one doing all of this?” Steve asked.

            “I suspected as much when Thor’s food went missing at breakfast,”

            “Were you ever planning to mention this to one of us? Or were you just waiting until he actually blew one of us up before you decided to get involved?” Tony asked.

            “I learned in my youth that it was never wise to get between Loki and the object of his focus when he is in such a mood. Had his actions turned aggressive I would have acted. As things were I felt it was best to let things run their course.” Fandral explained.

            “So as long as he wasn’t killing anyone then you were fine with letting him lurk around the Tower and drive everyone crazy?” Clint said. Adding to all of the misery that was sure to come with the return of Loki, it was starting to sink in that almost everything he owned had been ruined.

“I had hoped to provoke him into showing himself at dinner,” Fandral said, redirecting Clint’s thoughts. “I thought for sure that my choice of stories would draw some response.”

            “So what’s changed?” Steve said. “If you didn’t want to get involved then why are you telling us now?”

            “Ah, yes, well as it happens the situation has changed,” Fandral said. “You see this afternoon I was approached by an old acquaintance. He has just now contacted me again. He has a proposition for you all.”

            “Who is he and what does he want?” Tony asked.

            Fandral hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Try to keep an open mind.”

 

                                                A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

           

            It wasn’t as though his room had been at all appealing to begin with. Empty pizza boxes and magazines everywhere. Clothes strewn about as though he were trying to carpet the room with them. Holes all over the walls from darts and arrows. The place was a sty.

            Initially Loki hadn’t even been sure that they were the archer’s quarters. He’d thought that he must have made a mistake and ended up in some sort of storage room. It was hard to believe that anyone would live in such squalor by choice. Yet it had proven to be the right room.

            The way Loki saw it, the man really should be thanking him. Perhaps this would finally be the push he needed to motivate him to clean. Even if he didn’t then the change was still an improvement on what he’d had before. Most things looked better with the addition of some green. Including the archer, it seemed.

            “It’s encouraging to see that recent events haven’t harmed your sense of humor,” Loki turned his head to the right and saw that he was no longer alone on the rooftop across from the Tower. 

“Puck?” Loki said. He almost didn’t believe what he was seeing. He hadn’t seen the annoying little mage in over a century but there he was. Looking just the same as he always had. Same long white hair and dreadful taste in pastel silks. He hadn’t thought of Puck in years. As he tried to remember their last meeting he realized that even more astonishing than Puck being on Midgard was the fact that Puck was anywhere at all. Considering how their last meeting on Muspelheim had ended.

            “Didn’t I kill you?” Loki asked, trying to remember the exact details of their last meeting.

             “No, no. Though in your defense it was certainly not for a lack of trying,” Puck said, with a laugh. “It took me over a week to get out of the pit of fire and I still managed to come out paler than you.” Puck began laughing again.

            Loki shook his head and remembered why he’d wanted the other man gone in the first place. This creature was completely insane. “Well congratulations on your continued existence. Now go away. I don’t have time for your nonsense,” Loki said.

             “Oh, yes, I can see that you are quite occupied playing childish pranks on your brothers’ friends. I’ll give you credit and admit that your jokes are as amusing as ever. Though to be fair I would have chosen a different color for Clint’s room. I hear he is actually more partial to purple,” Puck said.

             “However our last meeting may have ended I think I made it quite clear when I shoved you off of that cliff that I was tired of your presence. Why are you bothering me again?” Loki asks.

            “I thought I could be of some assistance,” Puck said, smiling widely. Loki looked at Puck incredulously.

            “I am one of the strongest magic users in the universe. Years ago you came to me **begging** me to take you on as an apprentice. Your skills have always been weak in comparison to mine. What could I possibly need from you?”

            “You may be more powerful than me, it’s true. But I have a few talents that you don’t,” Puck said.

            “If you mean your little predictions then you can save your energy. I have no use for unreliable guesswork,” Loki said.

            “It has been a long time since you last saw me, Loki. My skills at reading events have grown. I’ve developed a level of foresight into the future that… well actually it has made my life quite tedious,” Puck said. Loki ignored him and hoped that the other man would take the hint and leave. Naturally he did not.

            “This is why I have begun to use my gifts to help others to improve their lives,” Puck said.

 “How nice for you,” Loki said.

 “The ripples are so much clearer now. I can take the smallest action and follow it all the way to the end. The major events anyway. I’ll admit that there are always some small side events that I am unable to see coming,” Puck said. Loki made a noncommittal noise and wondered if there was anything he could say to the other man that he wouldn’t take as encouragement to keep talking.

            “It is in fact that which brings me back here today. I wanted to apologize to you formally for what happened with Fenrir. I always thought he was such a sweet boy, and I was only trying to help him along,” Puck said.  Loki had spun to face Puck the moment he’d heard his son’s name. He had his complete focus now.

            “What did you do to my son?!” Loki demanded, standing up and towering over Puck.

             “I was merely trying to help. How could I have known that he would bite through his own leg that way. No one could have predicted that,” Puck said.

            “You see into the future!” Loki said.

“Not every _detail_. I only see the major events. There’s no one who can see everything,” Puck insisted.

            “Stay away from my son, Puck,” Loki commanded.

            “Don’t be upset. It all worked out in the end. Minor discrepancies aside, everything has begun to take the path that I knew it would. If all continues the way that it should then your son will be-” Puck said.

            “I won’t say it again,” Loki interrupted, resisting the urge to hurl the man across the roof. “Stay away from my son. He’s had enough misery in his life because of seer’s and idiotic prophesies. He doesn’t need any more of it.”

            “I must say that I find your devotion to your sons wellbeing quite surprising,” Puck said, tilting his head to the side as he spoke. Loki, meanwhile had pulled  a dagger from his coat and was considering where best to put it.

            “I am sorry if I’ve insulted you,” Puck continued. “I had just assumed by your recent actions that the two of you were no longer as close as you once were.”

            “You don’t know anything,” Loki said.

            “I know that your son sits just a building away. Yet instead of going to see him, or contacting him in any way, you have been spending your time playing games. Amusing games, to be sure, but just games,” Puck said.

            “I’ve grown tired of you. Leave now, before I find another pit of fire to toss you into,” Loki said.

            Puck stood up and pouted at Loki’s lack of response. When it became clear that Loki was just going to ignore him he began making his way across the roof to leave. Loki couldn’t have been happier to see the other man leave and turned his attention back to the Tower.

            “Oh, oh, oh, oh, I almost forgot!” Puck said, flying across the roof and floating to a stop in front of Loki. “Silly me; it was the whole reason that I came to see you. I’ve learned a new trick. You’ll be amazed. I’ve studied so hard since we last met. You must let me show you. Please, please, please.”

            “If I let you show me your little trick; then will you leave?” Loki asked.

            “Of course!” Puck said, bouncing from foot to foot while still hovering in the air.

            “Fine. I hope that you’re not going to attempt to use one of your little mind spells on me,” Loki said, standing up from the ledge where he had been sitting and stretching his legs.

            “I would never. Besides they never worked on you anyway,” Puck lowered himself down to the roof. “This is something entirely unique that I have learned especially for today. I just know that you are going to love it.”

 

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A     

           

            Darcy was putting hot sauce onto her coffee ice cream. Fenrir hadn’t thought that it was possible to ruin ice cream but he had clearly been wrong. Just the sight of this was making him feel a little sick.

            “I’ve been wanting to ask. Last time Thor stopped in he said that you all took publicity photos. So does that mean that they took photos of you or the big green you? Darcy asked Bruce.

            “There were a few of me but I think they focused more on getting shots of the Hulk,” Bruce said.

            “I’m a little surprised that Tony found photographers willing to do that,” Jane admitted.

            “Actually, it turns out that the Hulk was really cooperative that day. It turns out that he really likes having his picture taken,” Bruce said.

            The conversation soon changed to some topic that both Jane and Bruce were studying and Fenrir began to lose focus. It had only been about fifteen minutes since Thor and the others had left him alone with Bruce, Jane and Darcy. He knew that, but he still kept looking over to the clock and expecting to see that hours had passed. He wanted to leave so badly that he’d begun gripping the side of the table to keep himself still.

            When Thor had left the kitchen to go find out what was happening with Clint, he had told Fenrir to stay where he was and keep Jane company. It shouldn’t have been an order. He knew that Thor hadn’t really even meant it as one. Still, he couldn’t make himself leave the table. Not so long as Jane stayed.

            Looking over to the group Fenrir realized that the topic of conversation had changed. Now Darcy was telling some sort of story. Like all of her stories it was very colorful and involved lots of hand gestures. Fenrir watched and wished again that the woman would leave.

            He was sure that Darcy was a good person. Jane and Thor both knew her and liked her. The Avengers allowed her free access to the Tower, so she must have earned a good deal of trust. She had certainly never been unkind to him. But every time that Fenrir met her she would leave him wanting to hide behind his uncle. It was the way that she looked at him. He’d had people look at him that way before and it never led to anything good.                

            Fenrir felt a hand land on his shoulder and he nearly screamed. He managed to resist and when he calmed down enough to look he realized that the hand belonged to Bruce. Bruce looked over to Fenrir with a small smile and he was finally able to take a breath.

            “Bruce is here,” Fenrir said to himself. “Bruce is here and Bruce is strong. He’s your friend and nothing bad is going to happen with him around.”

            Fenrir tried to remind himself that nothing bad would have happened to him either way. That he was safe as long as he stayed in the Tower. Still, he felt much better knowing that Bruce was sitting next to him. Now that he was calmed down he was actually able to listen to what everyone was saying. He was immediately glad that he could.

            “I’m serious, he actually tried to rob the gas station wearing this full suit of armor,” Darcy said. “The best part is that the guy was actually calling himself _Actually Gold Titanium Alloy Man_. Can you believe it?”

            In truth, Fenrir could believe it. Mainly because he and Clint had come up with that one together to put on the website. Now he was almost glad that he’d stayed in the kitchen. He couldn’t wait to tell Clint about this.

            Darcy was telling them all more about the robbery when a loud pounding told everyone that Thor was coming down the hall.

            “Fenrir!” Thor said, making straight for him. “You’re looking well. How are you?”

            “I’m fine,” Fenrir said, looking around him in confusion.

            “He’s about the same as when you left,” Darcy said. “Pretty sure we all are.”

            “That’s good. I’m glad,” Thor said, smiling widely.

             “Thor, is everything okay?” Jane asked.

            “I am wonderful,” Thor said, still smiling.

            “Are you sure, because you’re acting a little…” Jane began.

            “Trippy,” Darcy offered.

            “You are, a little,” Jan said.

            “I assure you that I am fine. I was just noticing what a beautiful day this is. Don’t you think it is a beautiful day, Fenrir? Look at that sky,” Thor said.

            Fenrir glanced over his shoulder to look out the window. He saw that the sun was setting but other than that he didn’t see anything particularly striking about the view.

            “Such a sight deserves to be appreciated. If only there were a better view,” Thor said.

            “You are really bad at this,” Clint said from the hallway. Fenrir turned back around so he could tell him about Actually Gold Titanium Alloy Man, but stopped when he actually came into the room.

            “Why are you green,” Fenrir asked. Looking at Clint it was clear that the man had recently wiped down his hands and face, but other than that he was completely covered from head to toe in green.

“You need to come up to the roof,” Clint said flatly, and completely ignoring his question.

Any calm that Fenrir had managed to regain was quickly gone. There were few places in the Tower that he liked less than the roof. He had been up there a total of two times since his arrival and neither had been pleasant experiences. Even barring the terrible rejection he had received from his father, he would have hated the roof. It was just too high.

“Yes, the roof. That would be the perfect place for you to get a proper view of the sky,” Thor said. Fenrir looked back and forth between Clint and his uncle. He had no idea what was really going on but he knew that he didn’t like it.

             “Enough. No point dragging this out,” Clint said, going over to Fenrir and pulling him out of his chair.

            “Clint!” Bruce said, standing up.

            “No,” Fenrir yelped, pulling away.

            Clint gave him an annoyed look and the next thing that Fenrir knew he was being tossed over Clint’s shoulder and carried down the hall. Fenrir had no idea how to react and froze. Clint taking advantage of everyone’s shock, quickly made his way down the hall to the elevator.

            “Clint, this is not what we-” Thor was cut off when the door to the elevator slid shut behind him. Clint slammed down on the button for the roof and dropped Fenrir back to his feet.

            “You’re a lot heavier than I thought you’d be,” Clint said.

            “What’s going on?” Fenrir asked, fighting off panic.

             “I need to bring you to the roof,” Clint said.

             “I don’t want to go to the roof,” Fenrir said, watching as the floor numbers they were passing got higher and higher.

“Yeah, well neither do I. But it has to, so it’s better that we just get it over with now,” Clint looked to see what floor they were on and turned back to Fenrir. “This would be a lot easier if I don’t have to drag you out there.”

            If Fenrir hadn’t been so terrified at this point then he might have even laughed. They both knew that there was only going to be one way that Clint would get him onto that roof.

            Thor and Iron Man were waiting outside of the elevator when Clint pulled him out.

            “So you’ve really developed a thing for kidnapping this guy haven’t you?” Iron Man asked.

            “I got him up here didn’t I?” Clint said, pulling Fenrir forward.

            Seeing Thor and Tony out here had left Fenrir more confused than ever. Why was everyone up here? Why was he up here? What was going on that Tony had put the suit on? Why did he need to be on the **roof**!?

            Clint final let go of Fenrir’s arm and gave him a shove forward into Thor. Fenrir made a brief attempt to run back to the elevator but knew he had no hope when Thor wrapped an arm around his waist. He tried to make himself relax. To remind himself that Thor can fly, so being so high up was not a problem. It didn’t work.

            “Hello again, Fenrir,” This time Fenrir did scream. It was Puck! Puck was on the roof and for some reason everyone was just standing there.

            “Don’t worry. I’m not here to cause trouble. I have come to make amends,” Puck said. “To mend that which has been broken. To repair the tragic rend of a once happy family.” Puck finished his speech with a bow.

            “Wha-?” Fenrir said, trying to remember how to form words. Why was Puck here? What was going on?

            “Fenris. Look,” Thor said, turning them both to see his father sitting in the center of the roof. Fenrir stood stunned, unable to believe that his father would just sit there. Then he saw the blue beams of light circling tightly around his arms and realized what had happened.

            Fenrir spun around to look at Puck “What did you do?”

            “A simple binding spell to help you two along the way toward unification. I would have left it to occur naturally, but your father is maddeningly stubborn. At the rate he was going it would have taken years before you made contact. And by then he would have missed so much.” Puck explained.

            “Release me, you worthless imp,” Loki called out.

            “Of course the spell is only temporary,” Puck said, glancing nervously over at Loki. “It wears off on its own. So since my part in all of this is done I’ll just be on my way and leave you boys to have some family time.” Puck made one last bow to Fenrir and then ran to the edge of the roof and plummeted off.

             As happy as he should have been to see Puck leave, now there was nothing to distract any of them from the fact that Loki was still there. Fenrir looked back at his father. He was back. He was sitting just a few feet away from him. He was there and because of a spell he would have to stay where he was. If only for a little while.

            Fenrir slipped down out of Thor’s grip and ran as fast as he could for the elevator. The doors opened up and he was half way inside when he felt several pairs of arms pulling him back out.

            Fenrir couldn’t do this. As if securing his father to the roof was going to make any difference. His father hadn’t wanted to come here. He’d had to be forced. Magically bound to make him come face to face with his son. Even if he did talk to him, the second the spell wore off he was going to leave again. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t handle being rejected by his father again.

            He kicked at Thor as he lifted him off his feet and began carrying him across the roof. “Let me go! I don’t want to talk to him! Let me go!” Fenrir screamed, fighting against Thor as hard as he could.

            “Seriously, now you decide you don’t like him?” Tony asked.

            Thor growled at the other man and hefted Fenrir higher into the air and brought him over to his father. He sat Fenrir down next to Loki and held him there. He then pulled out his hammer and placed it down on Fenrir’s leg.

            “You two are ridiculous. You have both been going mad from being apart now stay here and talk to each other!” Thor looked back and forth between the two of them as they both made a point of saying nothing. “I’ll come back later.” Thor said, standing up and striding over to the elevator. He motioned for Iron Man and Clint to join him. Leaving Fenrir and Loki alone on the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, he's back and now he and Fenrir have to talk.   
> Will they actually manage to work everything out? Will Fenrir forgive him for leaving the last time? Will Clint ever get the paint to wash out of his hair?  
> Tune in next chapter to see.   
> Thanks to everyone who has been leaving reviews. I've had some really great ones lately.


	34. Reunions: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey every one, I'm alive. Well this story has taken much longer than I originally thought it would so I thought a quick recap might be helpful.
> 
> The movies events up to Iron Man 3 were essentially the same, but average in an extra three years. In this time the Avengers have all moved in together and Loki has been a consistent reoccurring threat. Thor goes home to visit his family and ends up finding his long lost nephew. Yay! The problem is that Odin doesn't like him, believes he is destined to kill Thor, and wants him locked up again. Frigga aranges for Fenrir to go live on Earth with Thor. The Avengers are initially hesitant to accept Fenrir, since he has a pretty dark history. Clint especially has issues. Eventually all of the Avengers come to accept and like Fenrir. Yay! Meanwhile Loki has heard rumors that Fenrir is alive and, after a little investigation and murder, he goes to get Fenrir. The reunion does not go well, Loki and Fenrir fight, and Loki leaves. Loki destroys the city where Fenrir was imprisoned and chats with Frigga. Frigga tells him to go see his son and he heads back.
> 
> Subplots aside, I think that that is everything that you need to know. Also, I'm posting this at 2 in the morning. So if I have suddenly started calling New York Paris, like I did that one time, please give me a heads up so I can change it back.
> 
> And now for our feature presentation.

That hadn't just happened. There was no way that his uncle would just leave him pinned to the roof like this, Fenrir thought. But as he watched the door close behind Clint it quickly became clear that they weren't coming back. Even knowing that no one would be coming back to let him up, he couldn't help but let his gaze linger on the door for several moments. Fenrir closed his eyes and let his head droop down to his chest. He couldn't do this. He couldn't even look at his father.

How could they all have done this to him? Trapping him and his father up here together. Did they really think that this was what he wanted? After all, what good was it having his father back when the man clearly didn't want to be here? It was only going to make it worse when the spell wore off and he had to watch him leave again.

After what felt like an age, Fenrir finally forced himself to look over at his father. He was glaring at the door where Thor and his friends had gone. He clearly hated this situation just as much as Fenrir had known he would. The last time that his father had been at the Tower, Fenrir had been too caught up in his own emotions to really study him. Now, while his father's attention was still on Thor, he had the chance to really look. At first he had thought that his father was just the same as he had always been but, now that he had the time to think, he saw that he wasn't the only one to change in the years apart.

Everything about his father seemed sharp now. He was thinner and his face, his body, even his eyes seemed to have taken on a fiercer aspect. His eyes especially were altered. Fenrir had always remembered his father's eyes as being light. Even when he had been serious, his eyes had always looked like they were laughing at something. Some joke that no one even knew was being prepared for them. Now his father's eyes just seemed vicious.

When Fenrir had been little he'd always loved the fact that he had had the same eyes as his father. He'd loved being told how much they looked alike. Loved knowing that it was one of the few compliments he was given that were always genuine. Even on Midgard it was the first thing that people seemed to comment on when meeting him. He hadn't understood at first why having his father's eyes had suddenly become a bad thing. Now he could fully appreciate how being faced with them could make a person uneasy.

"I doubt the spell will last for long," Fenrir said, breaking the silence and grabbing his father's attention. "The longest one that we've seen has only lasted a few hours. It is as he said, they wear off on their own. So you should be able to leave before long."

"Much good that will do you," Loki said, nodding his head at the hammer resting on Fenrir's leg.

"After Thor sees that you've left again then he'll come and take it off," Fenrir said.

"You seem quite certain," Loki said.

"He left me here to be with you. There's no point in my remaining up here after you're gone," Fenrir replied.

"Have you considered what may happen if the spell wears off and I don't immediately leave?" Loki asked.

"You will," Fenrir said, not even allowing himself to hope for the alternative. "I learn from history, and you left before. It's only logical that you'll leave again."

"I did not leave before," Loki said. "When I left here it was to go to Svartalfheim. I went to see Auolies and his council. I _left_ to attain justice for what they did to you."

"To the people of Svartalheim, locking me up was justice. Now they'll just have more reason to hate me than ever," Fenrir said back.

"Then I was seeking vengeance; and I achieved it. I destroyed your tormentors, Fenrir. I made sure that every one of them was made to-"

"I never wanted vengeance!" Fenrir had to stop for a moment. Raising his voice to anyone was difficult enough, and every impulse in his body went against yelling at his father. "I wanted my father." Fenrir continued, once he was calm again. "I wanted you. All I wanted was for you to be here and you… You took one look at me and decided you time was better spent elsewhere. You left."

"I came back," Loki said.

"You were forced to come back," Fenrir said, forcing his face to stay neutral.

"I came back days ago. I meant to contact you immediately," Loki said.

"Then why didn't you?" Fenrir asked.

"I had been hoping to find you alone. Something that proved to be impossible, since your guards never leave you alone," Loki said.

"Don't call them that. They aren't guards," Fenrir said, wishing that he could stand up. "They've been helping me."

"Yes, I saw what a good job they were doing of helping you the last time I was here. How are you healing, by the way?" Loki asked, shooting another poisonous glance toward the door to the Tower.

"That wasn't their fault," Fenrir said.

"No, nothing ever is Thor's fault," Loki said, practically spitting out Thor's name.

"Why do you have to hate him so much?" Fenrir wasn't sure why he was even bothering to ask. It wasn't like there was any answer his father could give that would make things make sense again. "You're brothers, you used to love each other."

"That was all a lie," Loki replied.

"Thor doesn't think so," Fenrir said.

"That is one of the benefits of being a fool. Whenever something occurs that he dislikes he simply refuses to understand. It doesn't mean that it isn't the truth," Loki said.

"Do you have to keep fighting him? Can't you both just stop and be like you were before?" Fenrir asked.

"Nothing will ever be the way that it was before, Fenrir," Loki said. For a second, Fenrir could almost believe that his father had sounded sad.

A popping sound drew their attention to the blue bars that were still circling Loki. They watched as the lights flickered in intensity before growing solid again. Clearly the spell would not be lasting for much longer.

"Do you know Puck?" Fenrir said, wanting nothing more at the moment than to not think about what his family could or couldn't be.

"What?" Loki asked.

"He seemed like he knew you," Fenrir said.

"I knew him very briefly when you were young. You actually met him once," Loki said.

"Are the two of you working together now?" Fenrir asked.

"Puck is insufferable at the best of times. I would never work alongside him. Why would you think I would?" Loki replied.

"Don't villains often work together?"

"I'm not a villain," Loki said. Fenrir didn't reply, he just stared at his father. "I suppose your new friends have told you stories of me. Don't believe everything that they tell you. Morality and virtue are all in the eyes of the beholder."

"No. Cruel is cruel," Fenrir whispered. "You hurt people."

"Whatever stories Thor and his companions have told you-"

"You hurt Clint," Fenrir said.

"Is he still complaining about that?" Loki seemed amused. "He should have been grateful. With the power of the scepter I could have done much worse than I did."

"You made him hurt people," Fenrir said, feeling like he may be sick. Knowing that his father had committed crimes had been painful, but hearing him practically laugh about it was almost too painful. "The people that Clint worked with, they didn't trust him after what you did. They thought that he was a traitor and a murderer. There were people who wanted to lock him away." Fenrir couldn't quite repress the shudder that came when he thought of Clint imprisoned.

"Am I to be blamed for Midgardian nonsense? Anyone could see that the archer was being controlled. Most of the people that he killed weren't even working for S.H.I.E.L.D. They were part of some organization called Hydra. Barton didn't even know most of them," Loki replied.

"That isn't the point. You hurt him and he didn't deserve it," Fenrir insisted.

"If you wish to speak about the archer so badly then let's talk about him. You condemn me for how you say that I hurt him, but what about when he hurt you?" Loki said. Fenrir couldn't think of what to say. There was no way that his father could have found out about what had happened between him and Clint in the Library.

"I told you that I have been back for some time," Loki continued. "I have my own sources of information in this world. I know about what he did to you. I also know that neither Thor or any of the other _heroes_ that live here did anything to punish him for what he'd done.

"How can you tolerate any of them when they would allow you to be treated in such a way? Is this place really so much different from what you've left behind? You wish to call me cruel, and maybe I am, but these creatures are no better. Now tell me truly, do you believe that the archer would have ceased his attack had he not been interrupted? How much farther do you think his hate would have carried him if he hadn't feared some retribution from Thor. How far would he have gone if he'd know… If he'd believed that there would be no consequences?"

"He apologized to me for what he did. I know that he regrets it." Fenrir said, wondering how he could possibly explain his choices to his father. Eventually he settled on, "He watches movies with me."

His father raised an eyebrow at his answer but didn't interrupt.

"He spends time with me and he'll explain things. Helping me figure out how things work here. Bruce does too. Or he'll just sit and talk, and he never laughs at me when I'm afraid. And Tony, Tony is the one who invited me to live here. He's been so generous. Anything that I need he has made sure to obtain for me. Steve lets me go running with him every day. He talks with me too, he even… he told me that I'm good. That I don't need to pay for what happened on Svartalfheim for the rest of my life," The last comment seemed to have gotten his father's attention at least. Fenrir hurried to continue.

"I know that you don't like Pepper or Jane Foster, but the two of them have been nothing but good to me. They are kind. When I'm with them, I'm often reminded of the time I used to spend with Frigga. Feeling such affection, it- it is something that I never thought that I would experience again."

"What about Thor?" Loki said, after thinking for a minute. "I notice that you left him out of your speech."

"Thor… I spent more of my life in that miserable cell than I did out of it. Thor was the one who found me. He gave me back my freedom and it was he and his friends who have given me my new home. Whatever else happens, whatever else I might feel, or want for myself, I won't ever be able to forget the debt that I owe to him."

"Fenrir-" Loki began. Once again they were interrupted by the popping sound. The two of them watched as the lights that had been wrapped tightly around Loki began to flicker out. Abruptly the blinking stopped and the remaining light seemed to turn to dust and fall into a circle on the ground. Loki continued sitting for a moment before stretching out an arm to test whether or not the spell was still there. Realizing that he was completely free, he wasted no time in standing up and beginning to stretch.

Fenrir looked down at the ground and fought as hard as he could to hide the fact that he was about to start crying. He would not be weak in front of his father. He had known that this was coming and he was not going to let his father's last sight of him include tears. He wasn't.

"You should leave now," Fenrir forced himself to say. "I don't know how long they'll leave us up here. I don't want for there to be a fight."

"Perhaps I'll linger a while. They haven't interrupted us yet," Loki said, with a smirk.

"They knew that you couldn't use your magic when you were bound and they wanted us to talk. Now that the spell is over you are a threat again," Fenrir waited, but his father made no move to leave.

"You… you have to go," Fenrir repeated, his eyes darting back and forth between his father and the door leading inside.

"No, I don't think I will," Loki said.

"Papa, please!" Fenrir begged. "I don't want anyone to be hurt."

"You never were one for violence. You may be older, but you haven't really changed at all, have you?" Loki said, kneeling down in front of Fenrir. Reaching out a hand he brushed some hair out of Fenrir's face and tucked it behind his ear. "Not in the ways that matter."

"Now, if I understand correctly, Thor's little friends were willing to ignore my presence because I was no threat. You also claim that this was because of a supposed devotion to you, and a desire for you and I to reconnect. Is this all true?" Loki asked.

"Yes. They knew that I wanted to see you," Fenrir said.

"They haven't given us much time. In fact I don't think that I am done talking to you yet," Fenrir couldn't do anything but stare at his father. It couldn't be possible. There was no way that his father was saying what it sounded like.

"If all of your new friends are as loyal to you as you are to them, then I am sure that they wouldn't want for our reunion to be cut short just because some imp couldn't conjure a more stable binding spell. Truthfully I don't see, with the amount of time we must make up for, how one meeting could accomplish it all."

"No," Fenrir whispered. "I think you're right. One night isn't enough."

"Yet as long as I am seen as a threat, I shall be forbidden entrance. Though I wonder; if the threat I presented were to be removed, how they would feel about my presence?" Loki asked. "If my aim was only to see you?"

This was better than Fenrir had let himself hope for! Without even taking time to think he answered. "I know that they would let you. Just swear that you aren't here to start a fight and I know they will."

"Easy enough. I was rarely the one to start things," Loki offered. Just like that Fenrir's excitement began to drop away. He could practically hear his father thinking of ways that he could go around his own words. To gain the freedom of the Tower while still working against everyone else.

"No," Fenrir forced himself to say. "I need for you to promise. Swear to me that you would not be coming here to cause damage. Swear that you only want to see me. If you're not, if this is just so you can get close to them, then I just want you to leave me alone." Fenrir closed his eyes and braced himself for his father's rejection. Waited for the sound of footsteps as he walked away. He wasn't prepared for the hand coming to rest on the back of his head and, had Thor's hammer not been pinning him to the ground, would have surely jumped.

"Fenris," Loki said, waiting for Fenrir to open his eyes and look at him. "I swear to you, that if I am allowed to return, I will be here only to see my son." Fenrir reached out and gripped the hand that his father was holding him with. "For the moment I think that it would be best if I left. Give Thor and his friends a chance to decide how they will deal with my presence in their lives. But I promise you that I will be back soon." Loki smiled at Fenrir. Briefly pressing their foreheads together, he gave Fenrir's hand one last squeeze before standing up. "Goodbye Fenrir." He said, taking a few steps and seeming to dissolve before Fenrir's eyes.

-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-

Thor was nearly in tears by the time that Loki left. Bruce wasn't sure if he should offer the man a hug or just leave him be. He decided to just go with his instincts and let Thor process his feelings in his own way. Judging by the fact that everyone else in the room was giving Thor at least a three-foot berth, it seemed like he wasn't alone in his decision.

"And you told me not to turn on the cameras," Tony said, giving Steve a smug grin.

"I still think that watching Fenrir's reunion on your flat screen is too invasive," Steve said. In an attempt to protest Tony's decision to televise what was going on between Fenrir and Loki, Steve had chosen a chair that faced the opposite wall. Despite the intentions, Bruce had noticed that Steve had bent in every angle possible to see the screen once the force field around Loki had worn off.

"When a person comes into my house, multiple times, to try and kill me then they lose the right to privacy. Also can I just point out that I am without a doubt the nicest person on the planet. I'm expecting you all to arrange a parade. Maybe a day of the week renamed for me," Tony said.

"Tony," Pepper said.

"Ok, fine, the days can stay. I'll settle for a cake," Tony said.

"You're not getting a cake," Pepper said.

"Seriously? My third greatest enemy came to my roof completely defenseless and stayed put for over a half hour. And did I attack or try to trap him? No, I just left him alone to chat with his son. I didn't even toss any of that paint from Clint's room on him. If that doesn't deserve a cake than I don't know why we even have cakes," Tony said.

Strangely this wasn't the first time that there had been an argument like this between Tony and Pepper. For some reason, that Bruce still hadn't been able to work out, Tony never seemed to realize that he could go and buy a cake for himself.

"My friends, don't you understand what this means?" Thor said, somehow managing to wipe tears from his face with the back of his hand and still look manly. "He isn't our enemy anymore. Loki has agreed to lay down arms. For as long as we allow him to see Fenrir, we will have a truce."

"Is that what they just agreed to?" Steve asked.

"Technically, but it is Loki so odds are he's already thought of some loophole where he can still murder us in our sleep," Bruce said.

"Nonsense," Thor insisted. "Loki just wants to be with his son. The conflict between the rest of us will be of little importance now."

"I've got to agree with Fabio here," Tony said. "Did you see that? They talked, they did that stoic head hug and everything." Tony walked away from the screen and went to go sit down on the couch. "I think he meant it. And if he actually follows through on his promise and comes back for some bonding time then the two of them will have achieved the best father son relationship of anyone I know."

"That can't possibly be true," Steve said, looking sadly at Tony. The thought made Bruce a little sad too, but he wasn't nearly as surprised as Steve seemed to be.

"Tony, that is not what a healthy family relationship looks like," Pepper said.

"They hugged," Tony insisted.

"I'm inviting my parents to come for a visit. Soon," Pepper said.

Tony immediately lost all the color in his face and began to try and convince Pepper that the Tower was going to need a few more months of renovations before they could start receiving guests. Thor excused himself to go and release Fenrir from the roof. Meanwhile Steve had grabbed a remote from off of the coffee table and turned off the cameras that had been showing them the roof.

Bruce was about to say something to him when he heard something down the hall. Lifting his head, he was almost sure that he could tell what was approaching. "Do I smell-" Bruce began.

"Wha'd I miss?" Clint asked, slamming onto the couch next to Bruce and shifting a bowl of popcorn onto his lap. "Did I miss the big finale?"

"Papa Bears gone, but Baby Bear gave him visitation rights," Tony said.

"Damn," Clint said, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Ok, first I'm going to need for all people who are still dripping paint to get off of my 30000-dollar couch. Second, how are you still unhappy about this? I figured that you were over your Loki issues; seeing as you were the one to drag Fenrir up to the roof for their Dr. Phil special."

"I'm not proud of that," Clint said. "But as much as I hate the guy, Fenrir doesn't. He needed to see his dad and I figured that while he was tied up on the roof was the best time." Clint stopped talking long enough to toss a few more pieces of popcorn into his mouth. "I was hoping that Fenrir was just going to tell his dad to fuck off, but I knew that that was probably a long shot."

"That's fascinating but I repeat, I'm going to need you to get off of the very expensive couch," Tony said. Clint just smiled at him and lifted his legs to stretch out onto more of the couch.

"So," Bruce said, interrupting Tony before he had a chance to throw a lamp at Clint. "Has anyone thought about what we are going to do now that Fenrir's basically given Loki an open invitation to come visit?"

"Well, even if we put Thor's optimism aside, I think he's right. I don't think Loki is going to start any big problems with Fenrir around," Steve said.

"I think he'll try and cause as much trouble as he can get away with," Tony added. "But I agree. He wants to see Fenrir. I say that we wait and see how things play out. Maybe keep a few extra weapons stashed within reach, but mostly just see how things go."

"Well, I think that letting Loki anywhere near the Tower is a terrible idea, but no one ever listens to me, so I guess I'm fine as long as he stays far away from me," Clint said.

"What happens if you bump into him in a hallway?" Steve asked.

"I like Fenrir, but Loki comes anywhere near me and I make no promises about anything," Clint said.

"What do you think?" Steve asked, turning to look at Bruce.

Bruce thought for a bit before answering. "I think that Loki could cause a lot of problems for all of us; including Fenrir. But Fenrir needs his dad and if this could make Loki give up attacking us then I say that it's worth the risk."

"So it's agreed. We let Loki come back to the Tower to visit Fenrir. We keep a close watch but until he acts our, we stand down," Steve said.

"As nice as it is to hear you all agree on something, I think you've forgotten one piece of the equation," Everyone in the room to see Natasha standing in the doorway. Her black shirt had a tear that looked suspiciously like a stab, and the bottoms of her pants had clearly been on fire at some point in the last day. Yet, being Natasha, she still managed to look like she'd stepped off of a runway.

"Tasha, you're back," Clint said, jumping off of the couch.

"Like I was saying," Natasha said, rolling her eyes at Clint's enthusiasm. "Have any of you thought about who is going to tell Nick about all of this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this reunion is something that a bunch of you have been looking forward to so I hope I did it justice and didn't turn anyone into a soap opera character.
> 
> I can't wait to know what you think! I'd also love to hear what you all think is going to happen next. Leave me a review and for those of you who have already been reading THANK YOU!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr if you want to talk about my story or just look at lots of pictures of Sebastian Stan.  
> http://emiliemonaghan.tumblr.com/


	35. Time for Some Clarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers receive a surprise. Meanwhile Fenrir makes a new discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, the Queen of long delays between chapters is back.   
> I hope that some of you are still reading and that this chapter will prove to be worth the wait.   
> So without further blabbing, here is the next chapter.

 For Tony there was currently one question that loomed in his mind over everything else. The idea had first come to him a few days earlier and since then he hadn’t been able to shake it. When he was training, tuning up his suits, even when he was destroying Clint at Mario Cart, the thought kept coming back to him. Now that he was almost finished building his newest suit there was no putting it off anymore. He needed to make a decision and it had to be the right one.

Tony pushed his chair away from the table where he had been working and wondered why being a genius always had to come with so many decisions.

“Jarvis, buddy, I need some input,” Tony didn’t usually like asking questions, but since he had been the one to create Jarvis it shouldn’t count. “Should I change the color of the suit?

“Growing tired of the red and gold, sir?” Jarvis asked.

“Never. Red and gold are the perfect color combination. It’s iconic. My suit is staying exactly the way it is. I meant for the ones that you’ll be driving,” Tony explained. “I’m thinking of color coding the ones that I won’t be flying. Maybe blue for rescue suits, green for crowd control and, naturally, red and gold for flying into battle to destroy anyone who is stupid enough to challenge me.”

“A respectable idea, sir. However, I must note that this seems much more clinical than your usual design plans,” Jarvis. “Especially when you consider that the last time you considered a redesign it was to add racing stripes.”

“You do know me. Pepper keeps pushing for me to be more organized down here,” Tony admitted, scanning his lab and the piles of tools and spare parts that he had stacked nearby. “Obviously changing anything in here would be a disaster, so I thought this might be a nice compromise.”

“Clever indeed, but I’m not sure if Miss. Potts will have the same thoughts.”

Tony shrugged. His idea was perfect. Pepper would love it. Probably. Most likely… They could always talk about it more later. The important thing was that his workshop would be safe for a little longer. He went back to his computer and started scanning through different shades of blue. He was going to make the search and rescue bots the color of Pepper’s eyes. What woman wouldn’t love that?

He had almost chosen between either Frost or Royal Blue Metallic when his music shut off. One minute he had Metallica and the next quiet. Before he could even ask what was going on, the situation got worse. Some sort of quiet flute monstrosity began pumping through his sound system. This was wrong.

“Jarvis, what’s happening with the music? Did Clint get into my sound system again?” Tony got up from his chair and went to go and change the music manually.

“Actually the change was my doing,” Jarvis said. “Miss Potts has instructed me to eliminate any rock or techno music to your labs and workshops if you attempted to work for more than 18 hours straight. World saving emergencies aside.”

“All of my work is related to world saving emergencies,” Tony pouted.

“Not according to Miss Potts. If the music change does not deter you than I am also to instruct Dummy to block you from getting to any energy drinks or alcohol.”

“You’re kidding,” Tony said. He looked over to Dummy who had somehow managed to get his hand on a bat. He was circling around his mini fridge and making practice swings. “You’re not kidding.”

“In the event that all these measures fail to motivate you I am to resort to blackout protocol,” Jarvis said.

“Which is?” As soon as Tony spoke every light in the room, including screens and holograms, turned off. Leaving Tony in the dark. “I haven’t been down here that long.”

Jarvis ignored him and Tony managed to slam his knee into a cabinet while trying to find his way back to his desk.

“If you are interested, it is Mister Banner’s morning to make breakfast for you all. If the items that he ordered last night are any indication than I believe that he is planning to make French toast.”

Tony was not in the mood to think about breakfast. First he was having to stop a project before it was done, and then the AI that HE had created was teaming up with his fiancée against him. Not to mention that his leg hurt. They weren’t just going to win him over with French toast.

“I believe that he also ordered in the imported bacon that you are fond of,” Jarvis continued.

Then again, Tony thought, it would be petty of him to not go to breakfast. Especially if he wasn’t going to be allowed to work anyway. “Is everyone else there already?” He asked.

“It is eight o’clock now, so most of them are still getting up.” Jarvis said, turning the lights back on. 

Tony nodded and began making his way to the door. Dummy followed behind him, waving the bat menacingly. “I’m going, I’m going.” He said, as he jumped into the elevator.

 As he rode the elevator up, Tony wondered if there was any chance of Clint coming down to breakfast. In the three days since Natasha had returned, Clint had hardly been seen by anyone. Darcy had insisted that she had seen Clint coming out of the kitchen at three am the night before, but otherwise he hadn’t come out of Natasha’s suite.

Not that Clint didn’t have Tony’s never ending respect for managing to score with the Black Widow. But after three days they were all starting to wonder if he was even still alive. There was always the worry that the angry sex could go too far. That or he’d tried proposing again and she’d just shot him.

Tony shook his head. He was spending way too much time thinking about Clint and Natasha having sex. If he absolutely had to think about Natasha having sex, then he would be including himself in the fantasy. And maybe Pepper. Would Pepper be into something like that? Probably not. They got along but Natasha was too intense for Pepper. No way. But maybe with someone like Dr. Foster? Of course that would mean dealing with Thor and…

 “Sir,” Jarvis interrupted. Tony was startled to realize that he had been at his floor for almost two minutes. He stepped out of the elevator and decided that what he really needed was coffee. He couldn’t be expected to have coherent thoughts without coffee.

He walked into the kitchen and smiled at Pepper, who was already at the table with a cup of tea. How she was always able to be up at dawn without needing to inject caffeine to wake up continued to mystify him. He gave a brief nod to Loki and made a beeline for the coffee maker. He dug through the cabinets and found a Stark Industries mug and poured himself a cup as quickly as he could. About half of it ended up on the counter but that was fine. Someone always cleaned up things like that. 

 He took a sip of his coffee and sighed in relief. He looked back over to the table and saw Loki smirking at him. He turned around to put some cream and sugar into his coffee and took another sip. Then he turned back around. Damn it, he wasn’t just having a pre-coffee hallucination. That was definitely Loki sitting at the table next to Pepper.

“So...” Tony said, eyeing Loki and trying to calculate if he could get his suit on and attack before Loki could hurt Pepper.

“Stand down, Stark. I have only come to see my son,” Loki said.

“Junior isn’t here,” Tony said, doing a quick scan of the room to make sure that he hadn’t just missed the other man.

“When I arrived your mechanical servant told me that he was still asleep. He told me that he could wake him or I could wait for him to come down for a meal. I saw no reason to wake my son up, so he told me to come and wait for him in here,” Loki said, taking a sip of what looked like a cappuccino.

“Hey, Jarvis, next time an alien terrorist decides to stop in, give us a heads up. Okay,” Tony said.

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Though I thought our guest may have been downgraded from his previous threat level. The Avengers did decide to allow him access to his son.”

“We’d still like the update,” Tony said, making sure never to take his eyes off of Loki.

“Noted, sir,” Jarvis said.  

“So, how long have you been waiting?” Tony asked. This was awkward. How was a person supposed to make small talk with a super villain?

“About 15 minutes,” Pepper said, smiling. It was weird but Tony felt like he had seen Pepper use that smile before, but he couldn’t say where. Then it hit him that that was the same smile she had given him when he’d told her he’d gotten his arc reactor put back in. That probably meant something, but he was just pleased with himself for remembering.

“Tony,” Pepper said, pointing behind him. Tony turned and saw Bruce standing in the doorway.

“Guess who dropped in for some family time?” Tony said. Bruce barely even looked at Loki before he spun around and walked back the way he’d come.

“Well, that was rude,” Loki said. Tony couldn’t deny that he agreed. Who was going to make breakfast now?

“Jarvis, why don’t you send Big Brother down here. I’ve got a feeling we might need him,” Tony said.

“Already done,” Jarvis said. “I’ve also sent a message to Miss Romanov advising her to keep to her rooms for the rest of the morning.”

That was probably a good idea. To be fair, Clint might be dead at this point, but at least the rest of them won’t have to clean up the mess that would come from the inevitable death match he would try and start with Loki. Sometimes Tony didn’t know how people managed their lives without a virtual butler to think of these things for them.

Tony was relieved when he heard the telltale pounding that meant that Thor was running down the halls. He just needed to wait a little longer. Once Thor was here then he could make sure that Loki stayed put until Fenrir showed up and he and Pepper could get out of there. All they needed was for Thor to come and-

“Loki!” Thor shouted, as he bounded over to the table like a puppy.

Oh yeah, Tony reminded himself, Thor is an absolute idiot when it comes to his brother. Tony poured himself some more coffee and accepted that he wasn’t going to get out of this.

“I’m so happy to see you have come back so soon,” Thor said, moving like he was about to hug his brother. Loki waved his hands and a gust of wind blew Thor back a few feet.

“I’m not here for you. I only came to see my son,” Loki said, taking a sip of his drink.

Thor, being Thor, decided to ignore what Loki was saying in favor of running back to the hall to get Jane. “I know that you have seen each other many times, but I have realized that the two of you have never been properly introduced. Loki,” Thor pulled Jane forward to stand in front of Loki. “This is Jane Foster.”

Loki sighed before responding. “And I’m Loki, I’m sure you’ve-” Loki never got to finish speaking.

“That was for New York,” Jane said, after she’d punched him. Loki stared at her in surprise for a moment and, before he could decide what he thought of being hit by a human, Jane slapped him. “And that was for leaving Fenrir on the roof.”

Thor pulled Jane away from Loki and Tony, and everyone in the room, watched to see what he would do. Loki chuckled and smiled down at Jane.

“I like her,” Loki said. 

Thor looked like he was about to cry, he was so happy to get his brothers approval on his girlfriend. Jane just looked annoyed, and Tony was genuinely concerned. Loki laughing was never a good thing! Loki laughing usually meant that someone was about to be magically tossed off of a building.

“Making new friends everywhere you go. Some things never change,” Fandral said, sauntering in a few steps ahead of Darcy.  He walked over to the table and sat down across from Loki. “I thought there was going to be breakfast.”

“Bruce was supposed to cook today, but I don’t think he’s coming back,” Tony said.

“You all do seem to have trouble arranging meals,” Fandral said, spreading his legs and leaning back in his chair. This meant that most of the room was given a very clear view of Fandral since he’d apparently decided to come down to breakfast with nothing on under his robe.

“Fandral!” Pepper said, glaring at him until he straightened up and crossed his legs.

“My apologies,” Fandral said.

“I know you’re always eager to let the world know of your conquests, but perhaps next time you could just announce it instead of blinding the unprepared,” Loki said with a glance at Darcy.

The entire room turned to look at Darcy who just shrugged and sat down at the table. “I had a chance to fool around with a freaking sex god. What was I supposed to do?”

Jane and Pepper both looked shocked while Thor and Loki looked impressed. Meanwhile Fandral looked like he was about ready to drag Darcy back to his room.

As for Tony, he was just ready for Fenrir to wake up and get his father out of there. This whole morning was too surreal. All Tony had wanted was some breakfast and the right to go back to his workshop. Now he was dealing with a bizarre family reunion and, if things didn’t work out between Darcy and Fandral, another potential lawsuit. And as fun as it always was to watch Pepper terrify Fandral into good behavior, it lost some of the joy when he realized that Fandral was wearing one of his robes! Where had he even gotten that?

“I think you should ask Pepper about that. She knows more about it than me,” Steve said, still looking over his shoulder at Fenrir as they came into the kitchen. Steve turned and took in the group before him and just stood there processing it all. Tony might even have laughed if his reaction had been any better.

Fenrir almost walked into Steve as he made his way into the kitchen. He was obviously still partially asleep and rubbing at his eyes with the back of his arm. Tony thought that he must have overslept and been in a rush to get to breakfast on time, since the guy usually never left his room unless he was completely put together. Today he hadn’t changed out of his pajamas and his hair was sticking up and clearly still had some gel in it from the day before. But one look at Loki was more than enough to wake him up.

“Papa, you’re?” Fenrir looked around the room. Glancing around at everyone crowded around the table before smiling excitedly. “You invited my father to breakfast?”

Everyone in the room froze. Even Loki had the decency to look uncomfortable. Leave it to Fenrir to think far too kindly of everyone involved in this situation. Everyone looked around waiting to see who was going to be the unlucky person to tell Fenrir the truth.

“Yeah, Fenrir, that’s what we did,” Steve said. “We invited him to come to breakfast.”

Fenrir’s smile somehow got even bigger as he rushed over to sit next to his father. Tony turned to look at Steve, who just shrugged and went to the counter to start making breakfast for everyone.

 

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

 

If there was one thing that Steve could always count on S.H.I.E.L.D. for, it was being thorough.  He knew that it was important to do research and planning before a mission, it allowed for better strategy and lowered the odds of being blindsided by an attack. But even he couldn’t figure out how some of the information that they had sent over to him could possibly be useful. What possible scenario could require him to know the fourth grade standardized test scores of an operative?

He all but jumped out of his chair when he heard a knock at his door; thrilled at the excuse to look away from the files that S.H.I.E.L.D had sent over. He went over to the door and wasn’t surprised to see Natasha.

“I was wondering if we’d ever see you again. Is Clint still alive?” Steve asked.

Natasha smiled up at him. “More or less. Word around S.H.I.E.L.D is that you’re going to be coming in for a while.”

“Just for a few days,” Steve said, stepping aside to make room for her to come in. “There’s been some terrorist activity in Wakanda. They could have done it without me but Nick insisted.”

“He wants to see how you do leading the Strike Team,” Natasha said, walking over to his desk and scanning the stack of files.

“Yeah, the Strike Team,” Steve said.

“Not looking forward to having your own S.H.I.E.L.D team?”

“I would have felt better if I’d been able to choose my own team. Other than that it’s fine, I’ve known this was coming for a while,” Steve said. “His timing could have been better.”

“He probably thought that this was the perfect time. Seeing how things have been so quiet here lately,” Natasha flashed him another smile and went back to flipping through files.

“You agreed that not telling S.H.I.E.L.D. about Loki was the right move,” Steve replied.

“I do agree. But the downside of lying to a government agency is that you don’t get to sulk when they interrupt your plans.”

“I don’t sulk,” Steve insisted. Natasha just raised an eyebrow at him.

Steve still didn’t think that he had been sulking, but he would admit that he was uneasy about leaving the Tower. It had been one thing to agree to let Fenrir see his dad, but Loki’s appearance at breakfast had made their offer to let him come see Fenrir much more real than they had been before.  He wanted to believe that there wouldn’t be any problems. He wanted to believe that Loki just wanted to see his son and that would be the end of it. If he wasn’t, if this was just another of Loki’s tricks, then God help them all.

            “They’re giving you Ward,” Natasha said, interrupting Steve’s thoughts. “Grant Ward, he’s on your team. Clint’s worked with him a few times. Great sense of humor.”

            “I already read agent Hill’s assessment on Ward, so I know you’re lying,” Steve said, taking Ward’s file away from her.

            “I was hoping that you hadn’t gotten to his yet. I had an entire list of jokes I was going to tell you to tell him,” Natasha said.

            “As funny as that might have been, I doubt that there’ll be much down time on this. I should be gone for four days at the most.”

            “Four days is plenty of time to get to know your new team. And if the World Security Council get their way then you’ll be doing a lot more of these missions for S.H.I.E.L.D.”

            “Fair enough,” Steve pulled out a chair and went to sit in front of Natasha before he spoke again. “So other than Ward, who can you tell me more about?”

            For the next hour Steve tried to stay focused while Natasha gave him all the important information on the agents who had been chosen for Strike. Thankfully her information was a lot more useful than what S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent over, but it was still massive amounts of information on people he hadn’t met yet. He knew that this was important, and Nick had been talking about making the Strike team a consistent group for him to work with, but this idea had been talked about before. He still ended up working with different people every time that he was asked to do a mission outside of the Avengers.

            It wasn’t that he didn’t want to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. He believed in the work that they did and he felt like it was his duty to step up when they asked for him. After all he was still a soldier. Not to mention that, since Peggy had been one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D, he felt a strong connection to the department. Still, the longer he lived in the twenty-first century, the more he was beginning to wonder if he shouldn’t…

            “Hold on,” Steve said, zeroing back into what Natasha was saying. “Why would I need to know anything about the people in statistics? I won’t be seeing any of them on this mission.”

            “Maybe not, Alissa has an office right down the hall from Nick’s. You have to report to him at the end of your mission anyway. Stopping by her office would easy. I know that she’d appreciate the chance to meet you,” Natasha said.

            “No,” Steve said, flatly.

            “It wouldn’t kill you to-”

            “We’ve talked about this before. I can find my own dates. I don’t need you setting me up,” Steve said, standing up and going over to his desk. He began piling up all of his files and shoving them into a box.

            “Clearly you can’t. What did you manage, two dates this year?” Natasha asked, as Steve pulled a file out of her hand. “Just because it beats last year’s record, doesn’t make it a good score.”

 “In case you forgot we’ve been a little preoccupied lately,” Steve said, slamming the lid onto the box and shoving it under his desk. He was done with research. He’d meet the Strike team when he went in for the mission. He’d learn about them better that way.

            “That excuse only covers the past few months,” Natasha said. “And now that things have evened out with Fenrir there is no reason for you not to get out of the Tower every once in a while.”

             “I leave the Tower,” Steve insisted.

            “Missions don’t count,” Natasha replied. “From what Clint’s been telling me, even our pale little shut in has been going out more than you.”

             “Natasha, I get out. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

            “If you’re sure,” Natasha said, getting up out of her chair and headed for the door. As he was holding the door to let her leave she spun around and smiled at him. “But just in case you change your mind, I already gave Alissa’s number to Jarvis.”

            Steve rolled his eyes and closed the door behind Natasha. He started to walk away but then turned back and locked the door. He needed to get some sleep before he was picked up in the morning and he didn’t need for anyone coming in and waking him up at three in the morning. As he went to get ready for bed he made a note to himself not to linger in the hallways around Nick’s office. The last thing he needed was a date with someone that Natasha recommended.

           

                                                            A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

           

            “You know we set up the medical area for Fenrir, but anyone can use it,” Bruce said.

            “Yeah, I know, what’s your point?” Clint said, snapping open a bottle of water and downing half of it before he stopped to take a breath.

             “My point is that you look like you’ve spent the entire time you’ve been gone wrestling with one of Tony’s suits” Bruce said, eyeing Clint’s bruises with concern. Clint just rolled his eyes at him and began drinking the rest of his water.

            Clint knew that he wasn’t looking great, and sure his back did still hurt a little, but he was feeling good. Honestly he was feeling better than he had since before Natasha had gone on her mission. Bruce was still looking at him like he was crazy, but Bruce worried too much. Right now he was feeling so, so good.

            “You sure you don’t at least want some pain pills?” Bruce asked again. Clint might have pretended a severe injury for a little while, just for the hell of it, but Bruce was finally starting to shed his ‘worried dad’ face.

            “Nope,” He replied with a smile.

            “Well, at least you had fun,” Bruce said, finally smiling.

            “I really did,” Clint replied with a laugh.

            “Well you can’t blame us for being worried when you disappear into Natasha’s rooms for days at a time. If you’d stayed in there much longer we might have had to send someone in after you.”

            “Lucky you didn’t. I think it’s probably best for our team dynamics that none of you ever know the specifics of what goes on between me and her,” Clint and Bruce just stared at each other for a minute after that. Clint did his best to keep a straight face while Bruce tried to figure out how serious he was. Clint always liked to keep his teammates guessing when it came to his personal life. Just like in the circus, it was the secrets that would keep an act alive and leave people coming back for more.

            “You’re a unique guy, Clint,” Bruce finally said. Clint just smiled back and wondered what Bruce would think if he could see the whip marks that Natasha had left on his back. Then again, it was probably for the best that he had thrown on a long sleeved t-shirt before he’d left the bedroom. No need to reveal all of his secrets at once.

            “So, I’m guessing Jarvis already told you about, you know who, being here,” Bruce said, trying to lean casually against a counter, only to come up an inch short and hitting the marble counter top with a loud smack.

            “If you’re talking about Voldemort, I already finished the books, so you don’t need to worry about giving me spoilers,” Clint said, as he aimed and tossed his water bottle across the room and into a recycling bin.

            “I meant-” Bruce began.

            “I know who you meant,” Clint said, tensely. “And yeah, Jarvis told me he’s been stopping by.

            “And how are you handling it?” Bruce asked.

            “Well I’m thrilled to have an intergalactic terrorist stopping by unannounced. I’ve decided to just forget the entire attempted enslavement of the human race and just embrace the situation,” Clint said, trying for his best braindead smile. Bruce just stared at him in response.

            “Fine,” Clint continued. “I think that the whole situation is fucked up. But if you’re all worried that I’m going to do something crazy then you can relax. Even I can accept that getting Loki to willingly stand down is worth some restraint on my part. So I’ll get used to it.”

            “I’m glad to hear it,” Bruce said. The two of them stood awkwardly for a minute before Bruce spoke again. “So, are you in the mood for tacos? Because I always feel ridiculous ordering in food for just myself, but I-”

            “Bruce, you had me at tacos,” Clint said, pulling out his phone and hitting his speed dial for Taco Time. “Think we should ask anyone else if they want some?”

            “Tony, took just about everyone out for sushi earlier,” Bruce said. “It think Fenrir might have stayed back though. We can ask Ja-. Oh, Fenrir, we were just talking about you. Do you like tacos?”

            Clint turned and saw that at some point Fenrir had come into the room. He lifted a hand in greeting as he listened to the ring on his phone.

            “Fenrir, are you all right?”  Bruce asked, walking over to Fenrir who, Clint realized, hadn’t moved at all. Fenrir just stood frozen in place. What was wrong with him? Why did he look like he was about to cry? Clint was about to ask Fenrir what was going on when the host of Taco Time picked up the phone. Clint turned his back to Bruce and Fenrir and quickly placed his order and then turned back around. He saw that Bruce was resting his hand on the side of Fenrir’s arm.

            Why was Fenrir looking at him like that? Was it the bruises? Were they what was making him so tense? Clint wondered. It wasn’t like Fenrir had never seen one of them get hurt before. When you live in a building full of superheroes you are going to see people come back with worse than just a black eye from time to time. Still something was obviously making the guy upset.

            “Something wrong?” Clint asked. The question made Fenrir jump, and he quickly pushed Bruce’s hand away.

            “I’m fine. I didn’t know anyone else had stayed behind, so I was surprised to see you both here. I should get back to my room,” Fenrir said in a rush, before spinning around and practically running out of the room.

            “That was weird,” Clint said. “Fenrir usually loves tacos.”

            “Do you think we should go check on him?” Bruce asked.

            “No,” Clint said. “If he wants to be alone for a while just leave him alone. I ordered him some beef enchiladas, we can have Thor bring them to him later.”

            “I guess you’re right,” Bruce said.

            Clint wasn’t sure what was going on with Fenrir but he had a feeling that the two of them chasing him down wasn’t going to help. Besides, if it really was all of Clint’s bruises that were making Fenrir uncomfortable, then it was better if Clint waited until they’d faded a little. If that wasn’t the problem, then Fenrir would tell them when he was ready. And if he didn’t then he didn’t. Not everyone needed or wanted to talk about everything. With everything that they guy had been through it was impressive that he wasn’t way more warped than he was. If he needed to act a little skittish sometimes than he had more of a right to than most.  Everything would be fine.

 

                                                A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

 

            Everything was not fine! In the days since Clint had bumped into Fenrir while he’d been talking to Clint he’d seen him plenty. The problem was that every time the other man saw him he made sure to leave the room as soon as possible. The day before Fenrir had ended a conversation with Pepper mid-sentence in his hurry to get away from Clint.

            Clint had tried to excuse it, to write it off by saying that it was his bruises or something that was making Fenrir uncomfortable. Not anymore though. Now it was different. It was Wednesday. The tv was set, the food was ready, the movie had been chosen, but Fenrir wasn’t there. Fenrir was officially blowing off Movie Day. Fenrir was avoiding him.

            This was not going to work. Clint began pacing around the room. Circling the coffee table where pizza and chips were going uneaten. This was not going to work! There were a lot of things that he had to put up with in his life that he didn’t like. He had to deal with the fact that Natasha had to sometimes go on missions for months at a time. He could deal with that because he knew that she was deadly and that S.H.I.E.L.D. needed her. He had to deal with living in a building owned by a man who was on the constant verge of becoming a super villain. He could deal with that because, at this point, Tony hadn’t gone insane and decided to take over the world yet. Also because he liked Tony. He had to deal with the fact that Loki was going to be making drop in to the Tower, and he was expected to deal with that because it meant that Loki was no longer a threat to humanity and Fenrir would get a dad. But the deal didn’t work if Loki was going to be poisoning Fenrir against all of them!

            Clint was getting more and more angry as he circled the room. Leave it to Loki to come in and screw things up just when things in the Tower were finally starting to calm down again. Everyone was fine with Fenrir being here. Fenrir got along with everyone and was actually starting to relax. They had all found a good balance; and then Loki shows up and _suddenly_ Fenrir can’t stand to be in the same room as Clint. That wasn’t just a coincidence.

            Finally, Clint couldn’t take it anymore. “Jarvis,” Clint asked the ceiling. “Where is Fenrir now?”

            “Mister Lokison is currently in the library. Would you like me to let him know you are looking for him?” Jarvis asked.

            “Nope, I think I’ll go find him myself,” Clint said, storming out of the room and heading down the hall. This was ending now. He was going to find out what it was that Loki had been saying to Fenrir and make this stop.

            When he got to the library Fenrir wasn’t exactly hard to find. He was sitting curled up in one of those giant backed chairs that only movie millionaires, and Tony, actually owned. He caught up reading, of all things, a Captain America comic, and didn’t realize that Clint was in the room until he was standing practically in front of him. As soon as he noticed that it was Clint he straightened up and moved forward like he was about to bolt but, unlike before, this time Clint was ready for him.

            As Fenrir began to jump out of his seat Clint surged forward and shoved him back down. Fenrir looked up at him and realized that he was trapped. “What is going on? What did your dad say to you?” Clint demanded.

            “What?” Fenrir stammered, looking around like he thought someone else was going to show up and give him an excuse to leave. “I don’t know what you’re asking.”

            “Don’t play stupid, Fenrir. I want to know what it is that Loki has been telling you,” Clint said again.

            “He… He has been telling me many things,” Fenrir stammered.

            “About all of us?” Clint asked.

            “I don’t understand. Why…? Why are you so angry with me?” Fenrir asked.

            Clint didn’t like the way that Fenrir was looking at him. It reminded him way too much of the way Fenrir had looked at him back when he’d thought Clint was going to find any excuse to hurt him. Clint took a step away from Fenrir’s chair to give the other man some breathing room.

            “I’m not mad at you. I’m mad about what’s happening with Loki,” Clint said.

            “But, no. I told him… he promised me that he was going to stay away from you. He said that he wasn’t going to bother you. He swore to me,” Fenrir looked up at Clint like he was about to cry. “What has he done?”

            Suddenly Clint wasn’t so sure about anything. Loki was telling Fenrir lies about him and the Avengers; wasn’t he?

            “Fenrir, why have you been avoiding me?” Clint asked. He tried to keep his voice calm, but it wasn’t easy.

             Fenrir’s eyes dropped down to the floor and he took his time before answering. “You know why.”

            He’d thought he’d known why. But now Clint wasn’t so sure. “Explain it anyway.” Clint said.

            Fenrir looked up at him for a moment and then dropped his eyes back down to the floor. “I’m sorry. You’ve been kind to me, and I know what it has cost you to be so. But he is my father. He’s back and I have a chance to truly have him back in my life,” Fenrir stopped for a second to look back up at Clint before continuing to tell his story to the floor.

            “I cannot give up this chance. I knew that it would make you mad to see me stand by him. I understand your feelings, I truly do, and I don’t hold your decisions against you. But if sacrificing your favor is the price I have to pay to have my father back, then I am prepared to pay it.”

            As Fenrir finished his speech he looked back up and seemed to brace himself. Clint felt sick when he realized that Fenrir was expecting him to hit him. He took another step backwards away from Fenrir’s chair and took a breath. This was not how he’d seen this going. Did Fenrir really think he was this bad?

            “Fen, I don’t know if this is coming from your dad or you or what but,” Clint struggled to figure out what to say. “You know that you don’t need to choose. Right?”

             Fenrir was looking around the room again, seeming more confused than ever. “I…I don’t understand.”

            “You were right about one thing. I don’t want your dad anywhere near me. Ever,” He added quickly. “But you being Loki’s son isn’t exactly a new thing. I’ve known that for a while. So him being here sucks but, you and me, none of that has to change.”

            “You… Do you really mean that?” Fenrir asked, slowly.

            “Yeah,”

            “Does this?” Fenrir began, looking up at Clint hopefully. “Does this mean that you don’t hate me anymore?”

            Now Clint was feeling really confused. He and Fenrir had been hanging out for weeks. They’d watched hours of films together. They’d pranked Tony together. This couldn’t be right. Fenrir couldn’t have thought that Clint hated him through all of that.

             “I know that you don’t like me,” Fenrir said, apparently misinterpreting Clint’s confusion. “That you changed your behavior to me out of pity- and because of your own goodness. But you have been so nice to me for such a long period of time that I was beginning to think that maybe. That maybe your feeling toward me had softened.”

            “Fenrir,” Clint said, wondering how he had managed to screw this situation up so badly. “We’re friends.”

            “We…We’re not,” Fenrir said, shifting around in his chair. “You told the Captain. You were adamant that we were not.”

            Told the Captain? What was Fenrir talking- oh, fuck. Clint realized what Fenrir was talking about. It was the day that Steve had tried to talk Clint out of sleeping with Fenrir. He had said that he and Fenrir were not friends. Fenrir hadn’t been in the room but apparently he’d still heard. Damn wolf ears; he would have heard everything.

            “I don’t begrudge you the decision,” Fenrir started again. Clint quickly interrupted him before he could try and justify Clint being an asshole anymore.

            “Fen,” He said, making sure to say each work clearly. “You are my friend.”

            Fenrir just stared at him. He was completely stunned. “But, I don’t understand,” He said, looking at Clint. His face shifting back and forth between hopeful and confused. “With my father. How can you-”

             “As it turns out, I like you more than I hate your dad,” Clint said. Fenrir smiled at him. Clint realized that this was possibly the biggest smile he had ever seen on Fenrir. Fenrir shifted around in his chair for a bit before he jumped out of his chair and almost knocked Clint over in a tackle hug.

            Clint had never been much of a hugger. It had never been something that his family had done, nor had it been something that had been encouraged in the circus, or at S.H.I.E.L.D. He had his own ways of showing affection and friendship. But Fenrir clearly needed this and, given how badly Clint had apparently handled their friendship so far, it didn’t really bother Clint to hug someone. It wasn’t like Fenrir hadn’t earned it. So he dealt with a little bit of discomfort and gave Fenrir a hug back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww. Don't you just love friendship?  
> Thank you so much to those of you who keep reading this even when I disappear. I promise that I am still working diligently on this story and it will be finished someday.   
> As always I live for reviews, so let me know what you thought of this chapter. Or let me know what you are hoping/fearing for in future chapters. I'd love to know who has guessed where the story is heading  
> Stay tuned next chapter to see what is going on inside Fenrir's head as everything continues in the Tower


	36. Endings and Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where some realizations are made and some are still yet to be noticed. Big changes are set into motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this story ended up being much bigger than I thought it would be when I started. It is also growing past the original summary. So I've decided to make this a series. Part one ending here. You've hit the final chapter!   
> I know my long writing hiatus probably drove away most of my followers but for those few who put up with me from the start, I thank you. I hope that you'll all follow me over into part two.   
> And now the final chapter of Sheep in Wolf's clothing.

 

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. But it was. It had to be. After all, Clint had said it himself. They were friends.

Fenrir collapsed onto his bed and felt like he was going to cry and, for once, it wasn’t going to be out of fear or shame. Clint truly wanted them to be friends. He had even insisted, after their talk in the library, that they resume their movie day. Fenrir had followed him but he couldn’t have said what it was that they’d ended up watching. He’d been feeling so overwhelmed by what had happened that he was amazed that he’d even had the focus to make it back to his room at the end of the day.  

He’d thought that he’d understood the way things stood for him. He’d been thrilled on the day that his father had been invited to dine at the Tower; but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t noticed that Clint was absent. He’d been even more convinced that Clint was through with him when he still didn’t see him for days after. It hadn’t been a surprise. Clint had never been shy about what he thought of Loki. Even so, with all the time that they had been spending together, Fenrir had hoped that Clint may have changed his mind. But he hadn’t, so Fenrir had tried to accept it. He had even made his father promise to leave Clint alone when he was visiting.

Acceptance had been more difficult when he’d run into Clint and Bruce in the kitchen. Seeing Clint beaten and still favoring one side for the other, that had upset him more than he’d thought it would. Just looking at him hurt. For some time he wasn’t even able to hear what was being said around him. He just saw Clint glance his way and then pull out his phone for an excuse to turn away.

It hadn’t just been that Clint had been injured. Living with warriors the way that he did it wasn’t uncommon to see someone return to the Tower with battle wounds. In truth it wasn’t even the most serious injury that he’d seen since his arrival. What had been so jarring about seeing Clint hurt was that he had had no idea that there had even been an attack. Anytime that Thor was in a battle and would be coming back with so much as a scratch Jarvis would warn him. But clearly no one had felt the need to tell him about this. And why would they?

He had tried more firmly after that to accept that they were done. His father had called Clint faithless for his behavior, but once again he had understood. It was still hard to accept, especially when movie day came. It was a silly, childish ritual. Eating more food than he needed and watching entertainments was not essential to his life. If he wanted to badly enough he could always watch a movie by himself.

After spending far too much of his morning thinking about things better forgotten he had gathered up some of the comics that he’d bought during his outing with Bruce and went down to the library to distract himself. It had even worked a bit. Stories had always helped him to get through hard times. Comic books had proven to be especially comforting. Especially the ones with Captain America. Reading stories about Captain America bravely risking everything to rescue people always helped him feel a little bit better.

Naturally that had been when Clint had come looking for him. He had been so sure when he’d seen Clint’s face that things were about to go badly. Clint had looked so mad. And then… Clint hated Loki but was willing to overlook that. He didn’t care who Fenrir’s father was. He was even willing to continue their movies. The idea still had him speechless.

Fenrir shifted from where he’d been lying on his bed and leaned against the wall to look around. The room Tony had given him had seemed so empty and unfamiliar when he’d first arrived. Now it was covered in signs of its new owner. In many ways, it felt more comfortable than even his old chambers back in Asgard had been. Somehow despite everything that he had done and all that he’d been through, he had managed to find his true home.

Once he let himself believe that he truly found a home it only took a few moments for another realization to dawn. Clint wasn’t his only friend, and that had been true for some time.  

Thor’s love was hardly capable of question; even though Fenrir still felt that he was unworthy of such fierce loyalty. Yet if he were ever to doubt Thor’s devotion then his room held the proof in dents and signs of damage from the times they had spent time together. Of course, he had known that Bruce and he were also considered friends, but for so long he had been sure that Bruce’s behavior stemmed from pity. A desire to care for others that seemed to belong to all healers. Now looking at the piles of books that Bruce had helped him collect, he could see that there was more to their time together. As for Tony and Pepper, their generosity was so commonly accepted that it had seemed almost natural that they would be willing to extend it to him. But the painting that was hanging on his wall said more.

He had friends. He had a home where he was welcome. He had his father back! He had everything that he could possibly ask for. He let his head roll to the side and saw his running shoes sticking out of his closet. He smiled at another happy change that had come into his life.

When Steve had first asked him to go running in the mornings he had thought that it was out of obligation. Maybe it even had been; but whatever their motive may have been, the runs in the morning had become the highlights of his day.

S.H.I.E.L.D. wanting Captain America for a quest had meant that their time together had stopped. Thor had tried taking him out one day when he’d noticed that Fenrir was missing it, but it hadn’t been the same. Besides the fact that Thor wasn’t much of a runner, without Steve the outing didn’t have the sense of calm joy that it usually did. Being able to run would always be wonderful but without him it just wasn’t the same. Besides which, going running with someone else only served to remind him that Steve was gone. Performing dangerous feats without the rest of his team to keep him safe. And he… he didn’t like thinking about that. A team should stay together so that they can be there to help each other. Otherwise what was even the point? Fenrir sighed and took another look at his running shoes. He just hoped that his friend would come back soon.

 

                                                A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A

 

            The mission had taken almost a week longer than S.H.I.E.L.D. had predicted and their extraction point had been compromised, meaning that the STRIKE team had had to trek through about thirty miles of jungle before they could be picked up. Other than that, Steve thought that the mission had actually gone pretty well. They had achieved their objective and managed to do so without any team or civilian casualties. In his book that would always be a win, even if it did include a mild jungle cat attack.

            The one thing that still rubbed Steve the wrong way about the mission was the fact that, technically, S.H.I.E.L.D. had no right to be there. The mission had been to intercept an arms dealer while he was delayed in Wakanda. It should have only taken a few days. The problem was that the king of Wakanda didn’t like interference from outside nations. Because of this, their mission had to be done at the highest levels of covert or else risk an international incident. Steve wasn’t sure how he felt about going into a country that made it clear that they wanted to be left alone. A part of him still didn’t understand why they couldn’t have just contacted King T’Chaka and let his people deal with the threat. But the answer to that was steeped in the kind of modern politics that made him miss the simplicity of the 40’s.

            At least he could say that the STRIKE team had been a success. Ward had been replaced by an agent named Brock Rumlow at the last minute. The guy was pretty typical of a level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but at least he had a good personality. Not to mention that the guy was an incredible shot. They had worked well together. Truthfully, the whole team had worked well together. Unlike other groups that S.H.I.E.L.D had tried sending him out with before, most of the members of STRIKE seemed to have worked together before. If Fury was serious about this becoming his regular team for S.H.I.E.L.D missions than he could do a lot worse.

            Whether or not S.H.I.E.L.D had any intention of putting together a regular team for him was still unclear. When he had first signed on with S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve had wished that they would assign him to something like this. A chance to lead a team of soldiers, like the Howling Comandos, again. It was what he'd wanted and he’d impatiently waited for them to find him a team. But things were different now. Now he had the Avengers. Even aside from missions, keeping the team in check took up most of his time. Lord only knew what Tony would get up to without anyone to keep him from inventing completely unchecked. Knowing him he’d probably inadvertently set an army of killer robots loose on the world.

            While he was imagining what his team may have gotten up to while he’d been gone his elevator had arrived at the common floor. He had only gone a few steps down the hall when he heard Thor sobbing. Steve felt cold all over. Thor was not an emotional person. Thor did not sob! This was bad.

            Steve ran down the hall and snapped around a doorway only to see Thor sitting on a sofa, with Loki and Fenrir trapped in a crushing hug. The sight was enough to stop Steve in sheer confusion and, for a second, he didn’t even think about the fact that Loki was in the Tower again.

            When he’d had the chance to accept the picture in front of him he began looking for an explanation. Looking around the room he saw that they were watching some Disney movie with orange and white fish. Apparently, that was what had Thor in near hysterics. As one of the fish swam in circles across the screen Thor let out another sob Steve couldn’t help but wince as Thor gripped Loki and Fenrir even tighter.

            “They’re just fish, Thor,” Loki said, clearly not as impressed with the movie as his brother.

            “You must watch until the end. Only then can you truly understand the tragedy,” Thor said.

            Steve knew that he should be more bothered by the evil supervillain on the couch; but the moment was such a strange mix of funny and touching that he couldn’t do more than smile at it. At least for the moment no one was trying to kill anyone else. They were just making up for some missed family time. So as much as his sense of self-preservation screams at leaving Loki in the Tower, he can’t bring himself to interrupt the scene. So he quietly backed out of the room before anyone could notice him.

            As he walked down the hall Steve wondered if there was any way that he could make it to his rooms for a shower before everyone found out that he was home. He had meant to take a shower when the team had landed back at headquarters, but he had been too worried about being cornered by one of the endless line of women that Natasha was trying to set him up with. Even the women who had given him his post mission evaluation in medical had seemed to be paying far too much attention to him.

            Naturally, like any time that he didn’t want to be seen, there was Tony.

“Hey ‘G.I. Joe, a real American hero’ you’re back,” Tony sang as he approached.

“What was the song? Is that a new ringtone?” Steve asked.

“No one’s shown you G.I. Joe yet? I’ve clearly failed you in your integration to modern America,” Tony said, hanging his head in mock shame. “You’d love the cartoons. They have morals and lessons at the end. I’ll have Jarvis pull up some episodes for you.”

            “That sounds like fun, but could we hold off on the cartoon marathons until tomorrow? I really need a shower.”

            “Don’t they have showers at S.H.I.E.L.D? No, wait, that would explain a lot about Barton’s. Well basically it would just explain Barton.”

            Steve hoped that Tony would get caught in his criticisms of Clint and forget about him, but no such luck.

            “Fine, fine you can go. But I need you to stop by the workshop tomorrow,” Tony said.

            “Why, did you change my uniform again?” He asked.

            “Not yet, but I do have a few designs that I think you might like,” Tony said, smiling. “We just need to get started on plans for the big day. June’s almost over. We only have a few weeks until-”

            “Did I see Loki watching a kids movie with Thor?” Steve interrupted.

            “Are they doing that now? Jarvis was supposed to tell me when that started. He’d better be filming this. I thought that you smashing your cell phone with your shield was going to be the highlight of this years’ Christmas party; but it looks like we may have to have a collection of movies. Maybe a marathon. Or a countdown of the years greatest moments,” Tony continued on and Steve let himself relax. The chance to mock his teammates always worked when you wanted to get Tony onto another topic.

            “Have they gotten to Up yet?” Tony asked. “I can’t wait to see Thor’s reaction to that. The three of them have been watching one a day and Thor practically smashed a wall he was so upset when he watched the Lion King. It’s been a hell of a week.”

            “Has Loki been coming here that often since I left?” Steve asked.

            “Often is a subjective word. I prefer to work in concretes. The sky is blue, Iron Man is awesome, Loki’s been coming by every day, burgers are delicious. The kind of facts that a person can understand.”

            “He’s been here every day?” Steve asked. He couldn’t believe this! They had agreed that letting Loki come to see Fenrir was a necessary evil. That Fenrir deserved a chance even if Loki didn’t, but there was a limit.

            “I know what you’re thinking,” Tony said. “But you don’t need to worry. Loki may be spending all of his free time here, but he definitely hasn’t moved in.”

            Steve just stared at Tony. That was not what he’d been thinking! Since when had Loki staying here even been an option? And why was Tony not more bothered by this? Even if Loki was on his best behavior for his son, he was still a super villain. When Steve had left for his mission the rest of the team had known that. So what the heck had happened while he’d been gone?!

            “At least he’s not officially moved in yet. Bruce is convinced that he’s squatting on one of the empty floors, but I haven’t seen a suitcase yet so I’m still putting him on unwanted guest status,” Tony continued; thankfully looking a little more serious now.

            “Is he at least not causing trouble?” Steve asked, feeling more tired from 15 minutes in the Tower then he had during two weeks in Wakanda.

            “Nope, E.T. has been on his best behavior. At least when Fenrir’s around,” Tony said.

            “And when he’s not?” Steve asked.

            “Well, he’s not attacking us,” Tony said.

            “Oh, God. What did he do?” Steve said, putting out a hand to steady himself against a wall.

            “A few days ago there was an incident. Nothing crazy, just some crazy guy scientist who gave himself robot octopus arms. The police were handling it. We probably wouldn’t have even been called in. We’re watching it all on the news and then suddenly Mr. Robot is gone. He reappears a few minutes later in front of a police station, tied up with his own arms.”

            “Wait; what does any of that have to do with Loki?” Steve asked.

            “It turns out that Pepper had this plan to take Fenrir to see some symphony. He was looking forward to it and Daddy Dearest didn’t want him to miss out.” Steve just looked at Tony as he continued talking. “Personally I would have released the criminal from jail to avoid the symphony, but-”

            “Tony!” Steve interrupted, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. “Are you telling me that Loki is actively **stopping** crime now?”

            “Admittedly, only when it’s an inconvenience to his son, but I like to think that it’s a step in the right direction,” Tony replied.

            “This is…” Steve couldn’t even figure out how to finish his sentence and just ended up rubbing his face with his hand while he laughed. “Anything else happen while I was gone?” He half expected for Tony to tell him that Dr. Doom had also given up villainy. Given everything else that was going on he didn’t think that anything would surprise him.

            “Well you missed Thor going into an hour long sulk when he found out he wasn’t as good as you,” Tony said, once again looked like he was holding in laughter.

            “What?”

            “I think the way that he put it was that ‘he tried to fill the void left by your absence and was found to be wanting’. I might have left out a few thous and verrilys but that’s the basic gist.”

            “Tony,” Steve said. He was tired and if Tony was just going to be Tony then he was ready to go get his shower and go to sleep.

            “What I think Fenrir actually said was that going running with Thor was frustrating because Thor kept stopping to pose for pictures with tourists,” Tony smirked, like he didn’t have stacks of pre-autographed headshots, and continued. “Then again, Clint tried to take him out too and Fenrir didn’t seem any more impressed. So, I guess you’ve set the bar pretty high for running around the park in circles.”

            “I’m going to bed, Tony.” Steve turned and began heading down the hall. He made a point to keep walking even when he heard Tony start talking again.

            “Hope you weren’t planning on sleeping in tomorrow. If someone doesn’t take that kid for a run soon then he might start acting out. The last thing we need is for him to start digging holes in the Tower or howling at the moon.”

            “I told you to stop with the dog jokes. They’re not funny,” Steve insisted.

            “Sure they are, but enough stalling. Like I said before, July is almost here and we need to get planning. Now Pepper already made up a guest list but there are a few dozen people that I was thinking we could add. The only question is whether or not we need to-”. Tony continued talking but Steve stopped hearing him somewhere around the word guest list. He’d known that it was too much to hope that everyone was just going to forget but he’d hoped that he’d have a little bit more time before he had to deal with this again.

            This was too much for one night. All Steve wanted was a shower and sleep. So without saying a word, he left Tony to his rambling and walked away.

 

                                                                                                        -A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-

           

                                                                                                                Epilogue

                                                                                                     _Sometime In The Future_

 

            Thor was becoming more and more concerned as he walked down the hallway. He had been sure that Fenrir would be in the library. There were only so many places in the Tower that his nephew went. But the library had been empty and he was at a loss for where to go next.

            The night before Thor had called Jane for advice and she had advised him to allow Fenrir some time to himself. To let him have a night’s rest before he sought him out. Thor had followed her advice exactly and had gone to Fenrir’s room as soon as the sun had come up. He had knocked and waited and eventually let himself in. But Fenrir was not sleeping as he should have been. He was gone.

            At first Thor hadn’t been worried. Fenrir was not usually such an early riser, but perhaps he could not sleep the night before. It didn’t look as though his bed had been slept in. Perhaps he and Barton had been watching one of their movies and he had fallen asleep on the couch. So Thor had gone to the places where Fenrir normally spent his time, but he was still nowhere to be found.

            The more Thor searched through the Tower the more concerned he became. Fenrir had been so upset when Thor had last seen him. Something had clearly happened, but he wouldn’t tell Thor what it was. He had refused to talk. He had just gone to his room and closed the door. Now, as he ran through the halls, looking into every room hoping to spot a clue, he wished that he had followed Fenrir into his room and pushed for an answer.

            Things had been going so well for Fenrir. Things had been going so well lately that Thor had almost forgotten how Fenrir looked when he’d first brought him back from Svartalfheim. That look of confusion and uncertainty that had seemed to be permanently etched onto his nephew’s face. Thor had seen that look again when Fenrir had returned to the Tower the day before. Once again Thor cursed himself for not making Fenrir talk to him as soon as he had seen his expression. He was not going to make that mistake again.

            Thor briefly considered trying to contact Loki, but quickly tossed the idea away. Loki knew better than to take Fenrir away from the Tower. He knew what the consequences would be and even he would not test Odin’s tolerance on such a matter. And if Fenrir was not with Loki then alerting him to Fenrir’s possible disappearance would only cause trouble for the inhabitants of the Tower. Not to mention all of Midgard if Fenrir was not found quickly. Better to just leave Loki out of it.

            After a few more circuits of Fenrir’s most likely locations, Thor found himself outside the door leading to Roger’s set of rooms. He didn’t remember deciding to go here but is glad that the decision was made. Steve Rogers is a wise strategist and will be able to come up with a plan for finding Fenrir. Thor slammed his fist against the door until it opened.

            When Rogers arrived at the door he was wearing some sort of short pants and was shirtless. Seemingly still asleep. As if anyone could be expected to sleep in such a crisis!

            “Is something wrong?” Steve asked, only opening the door half way and leaning against the frame.

            “Fenrir has gone missing,” Thor told him.

            “He isn’t mi- I’m sure he’s fine,” Steve said.

            “You do not understand. When I last saw him he was greatly distressed. Now he cannot be found. I am worried what may have happened to him,” Thor said.

            “Did you, um, did you ask Jarvis where he was?” Steve asked looking up at the ceiling for a second before standing up straighter.

            “I tried,” Thor explained. “He refuses to tell me. He said that Fenrir told him that he wishes to keep his whereabouts private. I told him that it was urgent, but he claims that he will not reveal Fenrir’s location unless Fenrir is in distress.”

            “Thor, I’m sure Fenrir just wanted some time to himself.”

            “You don’t understand, something is wrong. I am sure of it.”

            Steve glanced back into his room before turning to answer Thor. “How about I help you look for him? Go wait for me in the library and I’ll get dressed and meet you in a few minutes.”

            Thor was relieved that he wouldn’t have to face the crisis by himself and took a breath. “Thank you. I truly can-” Thor stopped mid-sentence when he heard something slam behind his teammate.

            Steve’s eyes went wide and he quickly tried to close the door. Thor was faster and reached out a hand and forced his way inside. Pushing Steve aside Thor had a clear view directly into the man’s bedroom. Fenrir was standing just beyond the doorway. Thor’s nephew was standing in the bedroom quickly trying to get dressed. 

            Thor spun around to glare at Steve who immediately held up his hands and began backing away form Thor. “Thor, I can explain,” He said.

            Thor continued to glare at the man he had thought was his friend. He didn’t want explanations. He did not want excuses. All that he wanted was to make this man, who would dare to betray his trust and take advantage of his nephew, suffer. Before Steve could defend against him Thor had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against a wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I had to do something to motivate you to read part two. ;)  
> Part two will also begin to incorporate more of the official Marvel timeline: as affected by the changes that have begun here. If there are any big events from the movies or shows that you would like to see, leave me a note and I'll see what I can do. Also let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole. As always I live for your reviews.   
> Thanks again for sticking with me through all of my inconsistent posting.


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